Renegade Soldier
by danners3
Summary: Troubles brews in Atlantis when General O'Neill sends a new recruit their way - ex military, tough, mouthy and more than just a little sexy. She immediately causes problems and then her true reason for being there becomes clear as a conspiracy unfolds...
1. Chapter 1 Second chances

CHAPTER 1 – SECOND CHANCES

"A word, Colonel Sheppard?"

John groaned. She had her base commander voice on and John wondered what he had done now in order to deserve that tone. He mentally rifled back through his recent indiscretions and tried to select one that could possibly warrant censure and gave a shrug. No doubt this information would be shared with him. Very soon.

He stepped into her office and schooled his features into a semblence of respect. Not so difficult really. He and Sam were friends, as well as colleagues – but from time to time she did wield that remarkably sharp stick that bore the label 'base commander'. And when she did? He either ducked or smiled through the pain when it connected with his rear end.

"Sam... Colonel Carter. You wanted to see me?"

He stood easy, resting lightly against the door frame after allowing the door to shut behind him. He was a large man, standing at six foot and well muscled, and would appear intimidating to most of the people on the base, until one got to know him. Sam did not intimidate easily – she was a full bird Colonel in the US airforce, a prior member of SG1 out of stargate command on earth and a statuesque woman who almost, but not quite, could look John in the eye when standing face to face with him.

"Relax John.. you're not in any trouble... and wipe that smirk off your face, or I might just dig through your rather long and interesting HR report and find something that managed to piss me off enough to punish you." She was smiling as she said it, and John dropped down into the chair in front of her desk, idly letting it spin slightly from side to side.

"I need to give you a heads up on something. We're about to have a new 'resident' in our fair city. And she's coming to us through the back door, so to speak.. under the radar..."

John's eyes narrowed immediately.

"Not liking where this is going already Sam... spill it."

She sighed. This was going to be a hard sell. If the request had not come from General O'Neill, she'd be digging her own heels in and flat out refusing. But General O'Neill... Jack... and her shared a somewhat unusual relationship – one that had been hinted at more than once in most circles, but had been neither confirmed or denied by the parties in question. Only Sam and Jack knew the true nature of their relationship and they both wanted it to stay that way.

"General O'Neill is sending us a new recruit... and before you get your underwear in a knot, let me give you the full story. Remember Colonel Barlow? The pilot who flew missions out of the SGC, seconded to SG3 at one point?" She looked at John, sure that he would remember.

"He was killed in action a couple of years ago. Flying an F302 in the Milky Way from what I remember. Had a daughter, army?"

"Airforce, John. Brief stint, then left under some bad feelings."

"Ok..." He drew the word out, wondering what was coming.

"Josephine, or Jo as she is known. Extremely bright, joined the airforce out of college wanting to follow in her Dad's footsteps. Decided against pilot training and found she had an amazing ability around machines, aircraft in particular. Could fix anything that moved. Magic hands, they used to joke."

"Used to? What happened." John had given Sam his full attention now and no longer let the chair swivel from side to side. His long legs rested comfortably in front of him.

"When her Dad was killed, she went a little crazy. Her mother had died when she was little, and the story around her father's death was a little sketchy. Top secret, of course, and because she did not have security clearance, she never found out how he really died. Fell in with a bad crowd and did some silly stuff... nothing worth a long haul in jail, but enough to get thrown out of the airforce."

"That's a tearjerker, Sam – but what's it got to do with us?"

"Getting to that John. Barlow and General O'Neill? Go way back, and when he died, Jack took Jo under his wing and she seemed to be getting along ok, then wham.. something lit her fuse and she was suddenly throwing everything in her life away. Came down to a choice. Prison... or something else. Jack chose the something else on her behalf. Here."

"You're kidding, right? Here? General O'Neill is sending us an unreformed... criminal?"

"Not quite that bad... well... not really. They were misdeamours, made worse by the bad crowd she had gotten herself into. She's a good kid, but needs a new start, away from all the crap that she's had put on her shoulders."

John grumbled,shaking his head. "They couldn't have sent her to say... Russia? But out here? Why the hell would you send a kid out here?"

"Not a kid John... not any more. She's 25, and another thing... she's not too happy about being sent here, but Jack didn't give her a choice. Fortunately she still has enough respect for him to pull her head out of the sand and give it a go. He's given her six months. Turn her life around, make a new start, or it's back stateside and he'll wash his hands of her. That got to her apparently."

The claxons sounded, signalling the stargate had been activated and John looked sharply at Sam.

Guileless blue eyes stared back at him and she smiled slightly. "Oh good... her timing is perfect."

"Great..." muttered John. "Please don't tell me I have to babysit her while she's here...because I will have to put my foot down..."

He didn't get to finish. Sam moved quickly past him, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"I'm going to ask Evan Lorne to take her under his wing. Then she can spend some time working on getting some of that Asgard technology operational in the jumpers. I need your support on this John, I gave the General my word."

He followed her out of the office and lightly ran down the stairs, arriving in the gate room at the same time as the wormhole stablised. He watched as the crystalline blue of the event horizon shimmered and settled and parted briefly to allow a small figure in olive green fatigue pants and a white tshirt, carrying one small gear bag to step through and stand in the gate room, waiting briefly while the gate shut down. She dropped her bag on the floor and fisted her hands at her extremely trim hips and John's gaze travelled from the tips of her feet clad in black sneakers, up slim but muscular legs that somehow made those fatigue pants look... sexy, tight fitting white tshirt that did nothing to hide rounded shapely breasts, topped off by a face that had him swallowing over a suddenly dry throat. Milky white skin, topped by jet black hair. Lots of it. Tumbling all over the place. And gazing back at him, a hint of derison in her eyes... eyes that were a deep silver with a hint of violet, unusual and he found himself drawn to them, in spite of the look that she aimed him way.

It said, _back off._ In no uncertain terms.

Sam attempted to hide the smile at John's reaction. He was all male, testosterone thundered through his veins she knew that he would react instinctively to the visual package that Miss Josephine Barlow presented, from the tips of her size five sneakers to those bedroom eyes.

Sidling up close to John, she whispered quietly in his ear.

"Under the General's protection... in other words? Out of bounds. You lay a hand on her, and he will chase you into the next galaxy."

John huffed a laugh and hung back a little as Sam stepped forward and extended a hand. Slumberous silver eyes swept Sam from head to toe before she held out her own hand, a little reluctantly.

"I'm Sam.. Colonel Carter. I'm sure Jack told you a little about us all here. Welcome.. to Atlantis."

Silver eyes flicked over John and instantly dismissing him, sparked with controlled fury.

"Six months... Colonel... Carter. Then I'm outta here. Got that?" Her voice was thoaty and scraped fingernails of something sinful across his chest and lower and he swallowed again, thinking that six months was going to be a very very long time.

Sam's eyesbrows shot up and she told herself that she and Jack were going to have a little conversation about having full responsibility for choosing ALL of the people to join their little Atlantis family because Sam was not so sure that his particular new recruit was at all inerested in making any effort to fit in.

"And who are you?" The silver eyes now regarded him with just a mild hint of curiousity and he watched without moving, as she let them travel up and down his body, resting briefly on his muscled chest that stood out in sharp relief against the black tshirt he wore, then up to meet his hazel eyes. She blinked once, waiting for his reply.

"Colonel Sheppard... John. Your boss." Her calm regard got under his skin and he wanted to rattle her in return.

"I don't take orders from the military... Sheppard. Not any more. Not since your damn rules and regulations took my father. And destroyed my life. So tell me where to take my gear, and I'll report for duty, do my tour. But don't try and shove your military rules up my arse, got that? 'Cause you'll find I'll shove them right back atcha... and twice as hard."

She turned to leave, picking up her bag from the floor, but not before he saw something shift at the back of her eyes.

Hurt. And a whole truckload of it... and John groaned. He was a sucker for a damsel in distress.


	2. Chapter 2 Breaking through

CHAPTER 2 – BREAKING THROUGH

He caught up to her at the doorway to the gate room. For all her anger and swagger, once she had reached the doorway, he saw her body sag slightly then quickly right itself.

_Aaah, _ thought John, _ a small chink in that shiny armour. Not so tough, little girl – are you? I'm thinking O'Neill sent you out here to strip you of that armour, once and for all. Perhaps this game could get a little interesting, after all..._

"Gate travel's a bitch, first time. Millions of molecules disintegrating and reintegrating inside you. Gotta screw you up, big time. But hey? I'm still here, and more or less in one piece. I'll give you the VIP tour, if you're up for it. Then, as I just heard the early warning signs for full out hunger about to make itself known, we can go eat. That is? If that giant chip on your shoulder lets you fit down that hallway."

Surprised laughter bubbled out of her and he started slightly at the sound. Musical and light, it didn't seek to fit with that dark glare that settled across the beautiful features.

"That giant chip, Colonel Sheppard? Keeps me firmly weighted to the ground. Something you flyboys seem to be missing..."

And then he got it. Pilots were definitely not high on her list of approved reading. Not after the way her father had been killed.

_So, on behalf of all the pilots in the world, I take on Miss Josephine Barlow, daughter of the late Colonel Barlow – Rest in Peace. By the end of this tour little lady, I'll have you saluting me. One way or another!_

He moved in beside her and didn't respond, just slanted his eyes at her, watching as those silver ones of hers moved restlessly over the intricate and somewhat ornate decorating that graced the entire city of Atlantis. He could see that she was impressed in spite of herself and struggling not to show it. He grinned, attempting to push it down, but knew he'd failed when she flicked those dangerous eyes in his direction, watching as they narrowed slightly.

"I'm glad you find me amusing, Colonel. I assure you – after six months? That may not be the case. I don't like military and I don't like you. You stand for everything I walked away from. Rules, regulations..._and a safe place to call home. _She finished the sentence in her mind and he watched curiously as her eyes changed, softened and knew that she was not here in Atlantis at the moment, but somewhere else. Where the memories held the last bit of peace that she had managed to find.

He kept it light. "I don't usually evoke that extreme a reaction at first meeting, so I guess I should be flattered... hmmm? Anyway... this is the mess, so we'll make this first stop. I'd hate to have food deprivation added to my list of imagined indiscretions and the gangs all here.. so a good chance to meet my team and some of the people you'll be working with."

They paused in the doorway and John definitely had to work to push down the smile that threatened to piss her off. All noise in the mess simply... stopped. And all eyes were drawn to the confident swagger and the mass of wild, almost black hair that tumbled in disregard, much like it's mistress. But it was the eyes that drew that collective breath of every male in that room. Hot silver and flashing with just the right amount of derision, sending spikes of lust to most of them. And those it didn't? John figured they had to be dead from the waist down. One was all about sensation when in the vicinity of this woman. Not always a good thing.

He stepped in close to her, murmuring quietly against her ear so that only she could hear. "You always do this when you walk into a room, Jo? 'Cause that was kinda fun..."

Again that surprised laughter and it was her turn to push it down. Guard it. He guided her over to the table where his team lounged, in different stages of dinner consumption. Ronon sat back in his seat, half full plate in front of him. Interupting Ronon's eating was not recommended. He took his food seriously and the still piled plate caused Jo's eyebrows to lift slightly and taking in the large, almost primal build of the Satedan, John noted that her eyebrows lifted even higher.

Ronon's frank curiousity triggered something in John and he flashed his eyes at Ronon, receiving only a smirk in return. This one would get under Ronon's skin, he knew that up front. She was hot, she was tough and she was mouthy. All that rolled into a package for Ronon? He'd think all his Christmas's had come at once, and John intended to head him off at the pass before he committed that fatal error.

Teyla and Rodney both regarded her politely, waiting for the introductions and John noted that her attitude was a little less arctic towards them and figured it was because of the lack of uniform. Military one, anyway. She exchanged pleasantries with Teyla, sitting down in the seat opposite her and finding herself drawn quickly into a conversation about Teyla's world. John had seen immediately that she was fascinated in spite of herself, with the fact that Teyla was not from earth.

Rodney followed the conversation for a while, then returned his own attention to his food. More than just a little self centred, he had incorrectly assumed that she would not included in his small sphere and John decided to upset his somewhat unstable applecart.

"Jo'll be helping fit out the jumpers with the Asgard technology, Rodney. Your constant whining to the SGC finally secured you the help you're been asking for."

That got Rodney's attention. "Hmm. About time. And may I ask what your doctorate is in?" A polite smile on his face, he looked at their newest city inhabitant and John mentally rubbed his hands in glee.

"Doctorate? Hmmm... that would be... 'kick you ass if you don't wipe that condenscending smile off your face'. That do?"

Ronon laughed out loud, food spluttering as he made no effort at all to contain his mirth. Shaking his head at Sheppard, the message in his eyes was clear. _This one's mine!_

And John made the return message in his eyes just as clear. _Back off!_

Rodney's mouth hung open slighty and Jo simply reached over and placing her hand underneath his jaw, snapped it shut, narrowing missing causing him to bite his tongue.

Flustered now, he put down his spoon that had been about to bury itself in it's container of bright blue jello. "Ok... so what is your science degree in?"

_Oh, this was gonna be good..._ John felt like a referee in a ping pong match.

"I'm a mechanic. That good enough for you?" She was clearly getting bored with this little game and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.

A red flush crept up over Rodney's neck and he spluttered. "A mechanic? They send me a damn mechanic to fit out Asgard technology. What the hell sort of joke is that. Sheppard?"

John had pulled up a seat and sat down beside Jo and he felt the stinging blow on his ankle as a foot connected with it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the movement of her leg under the table, dangerously near his own, and knew that the missile had come from her. He turned slightly and widening his eyes, met the silver mercury of hers and read the message there, loud and clear.

_Thanks for setting me up... Colonel. Payback's a bitch... you'll get yours._

And those damn silver eyes held a promise that he felt in the pit of his stomach.


	3. Chapter 3 Questionable methods

CHAPTER 3 – QUESTIONABLE METHODS

Teyla offered to show her around after they had eaten and while a part of John was relieved to be able to pass her sarcastic and irreverent personality to someone perhaps better equipped to deal with her, that testosterone driven part of him was already sighing a little at having that body removed from his proximity. Until he brought the General's face to mind and that had him pushing his libodo down quick smart. Some things were better left untouched, and that included someone under the protection of one extremely unpredictable General O'Neill.

He had pushed back from the table after receiving that rather painful kick and gone in search of food and coffee, not bothering to see whether she would follow or not. She had, and he pushed back a grin, raising an eyebrow as one slim arm had reached past him and grabbed the cup of hot steaming coffee he had just poured for himself. Slanting his head back over his shoulder, he saw the top of her head reaching barely to his shoulder and bit back the comment that had come immediately to mind. He didn't fancy wearing that cup of hot coffee and he had no doubt that if he opened his mouth now, and said exactly what he was wanting to say, that coffee would be dripping rather painfully down a certain area of his anatomy.

So he chose silence and allowed that slim arm to reach past him and remove the hot cup. And when her arm grazed his hip, he tried very hard not to acknowledge that sizzle that almost ignited his clothing. He bit his lip until General O'Neill's face to mind again and found that he was not going to envy Evan Lorne at all. No, not one little bit. She would be a handful, in more ways that one. And even if one could get past that giant chip on her shoulder, abrasive personality and innate urge to deride and degrade others around her, it would be extremely hard to get past those silver lightning bolt eyes and body that his hands really just wanted to touch.

No, Lorne may not survive the next six months.

"Milk?" He tried the polite path, and offered the jug, even though it had been his cup of coffee.

Her head shook and that mass of dark hair lifted slightly, brushing against his shoulder and settling down again.

"Sugar?"

Those silver eyes slanted up to his and he pulled his deliberately away and popped two spoons of sugar in his own coffee.

"Sweet enough... Colonel."

He could not resist the bark of laughter at that comment and barely avoided the lightning bolt that sizzled his way. Sweet, she was not.

He followed her back to the table, noting that she hadn't bothered with food. Flicking a casual salute at the others at the table, he decided that he would hunt down Lorne and give him a little warning about his new team member. This one definitely required advance warning.

He had mission reports to catch up on for the remainder of the day and ran into a frazzled Major Lorne, later that afternoon.

"Major?" John paused, waiting for Lorne to catch up, looking as though he was about to explode. "Something bothering you, Major?" John immediately bit back a smile, already having deduced what the likely problem was... or more to the point – who.

"With all due respect, sir... how on earth am I supposed to work with her? She has no regard for authority. She refuses to complete any of the training tasks I set for her, and just having her the same room with the other guys I am trying to train... uh... sir..."

"Yeah, I get you Lorne - you don't need to go into any more detail. Seems to me like she's going to need some serious persuasion to take this tour of duty seriously. I know Sam's explained her circumstances to you, but she doesn't get a free ride around here, friend of the General or not. Perhaps I'll have a little more success in convincing her that not everyone falls under that dubious charm of hers."

"Charm? Are you serious, sir? If that's charm, then I've been hanging out with the wrong women. Sir."

"She's certainly a handful, and consider her out of yours. I've developed the sudden urge to teach that young lady a few manners. My way."

Lorne looked relieved. It had been a stressful afternoon. He had introduced her to the other members of his team and some of the newer recruits from SGA teams 4 and 5, mostly made up of young marines who had arrived on the last two intakes from earth. He had just started a new training programme and had thought to insert her in this group, knowing that Colonel Carter wanted her brought up to speed with offworld training and to brush up her weapons skills. They also needed to push her through a strict physical fitness programme, a requirement for all offworld missions. It had not started well. Looking the way she did, certainly did not help. And her attitude pushed all the wrong buttons. She didn't want to be there and had made that abundantly clear and when the guys weren't sureptitiously casting glances at those legs encased in extremely short shorts, they were suffering her extremely acerbic tongue as she flatly refused to pick up and fire certain weapons, telling Lorne in no uncertain terms that she was quite capable of firing them, thank you very much, and felt no urge to prove it to him. He had tried to cajole, then resorted to anger and she had retaliated, storming out of the shooting range and this had brought him to Sheppard. Hoping that his problem would magically go away.

Sheppard was welcome to her.

He went looking for her and she wasn't too hard to find. Stretched out on a chair out on the main balcony just off the mess with a manual of some sort in her hands, those legs resting atop the railing still encased in those short shorts, and he felt his eyes move towards them of their own accord, travelling their length and knowing that her silver eyes regarded him with that mocking expression.

"Like what you see, Colonel? "Cause, it's strictly look and don't touch." Derision laced her voice and made anger cloud his.

"Not particularly... you see Miss Barlow. It's more than looks that make the person, and from where I'm standing? I see very little I like. But I'm not here to discuss your assets, or lack thereof. I've just spoken to my somewhat upset junior officer. Seems some spoilt brat has been making his life more than a little miserable this afternoon. A little message I'm passing on to you now... and I'll only say this once. I don't give a crap what General you have on your side. You act like a little bitch around here, and you'll find yourself back to earth as soon as I can activate that damn gate. You obviously flaunted yourself on earth, and maybe that worked for you. Out here? You cover yourself a little more appropriately and that..." he flicked his eyes down at her bare legs..."is not appropriate attire. I'm taking over your training and you'll likely wish that you'd been a little nicer to Major Lorne. Because, sweetheart? I can be a little nasty when I think someones not pulling their weight."

He paused, watching as colour flooded her pale skin. She pushed to her feet, taking those stunning legs and planting them in front of him. The manual that she had been reading, slid to the floor and his eyes flicked down to it automatically and he noted the title 'Asgard Beaming Technology' - and again, the thought flitted through his mind that her issue seemed to be only with military personnel not work itself.

She stood too close, and he had to push his hands into his pockets to stop them from slamming onto her waist and taking out some of that aggression that he felt building up inside him. Through the only physical way he could think of with her. Using his strength to push her back against the railing and drop his mouth hard and fast onto hers.

Anger blazed in her own eyes now as she stood in front of him. "Don't call me sweetheart..."

Furious now, with herself as much as him, she felt tears well in her eyes. Her father had called her that and it was one of the last things she had heard him say, and now this Colonel, this bully - was trying to intimidate her and she felt some of that hard earned shell that she had carefully built around herself begin to crack, just a little.

"Until you show a little respect for those of us in charge around here, I'll call you what I damn well please, and believe me, I certainly do not mean it as a term of endearment. Now - I want you in the gymnasium in half an hour, in appropriate clothing. I am your new trainer, and because you have clearly shown that you have no team skills at all, it will be a personal training session. One on one. You and me. And you'll wish you'd been a little nicer to Major Lorne. When I've finished with you'll you'll be running back to earth with your sweet tail between your legs and telling General O'Neill about the big bad Colonel who picks on sweet innocent girls. Bring it on. Half an hour, Miss Barlow - and don't be late."

He took a deep cleansing breath as he left the mess and did not look back. If he had he would have seen the look of abject sorrow on her face as she thought of how ashamed of her her father would be if he could see what this had come to. Banished into another galaxy because of her behaviour, insulting the memory of a man who had been her hero. But caught up in a spiral of self destruction she was unable to pull herself out of. Because for now? That path of self destruction served a purpose...

She was five minutes late and she still wore the shorts that made his fingers itch to run softly down the inside of her thigh. But she was here, and he decided to give her points for that at least, and try not to deduct too many for the other two digressions.

He tapped his watch, to indicate that he was aware of her tardiness, and received a negligent shrug from her, but when he hardened his glare at her attitude he watched as she dropped her eyes, unable to meet the censure in his. She would be hard work, but he suspected there was something in there worth saving. Mentally summoning his white charger, he donned his knight's armour. Not sure if he would be needing it to guard his private parts from possible missile attack, or his heart. Both seemed to be in danger of suffering a little damage if he let this woman get under his skin.

"I want you warmed up. An hour on the treadmill." He kept his requests short and terse, giving her no room to argue. He wanted until she was on the treadmill, and deliberately set the speed higher than he would normally for a warmup with any trainees and waited for her complaint, which did not come. She had only hesitated briefly and that was simply to flick an elastic from her wrist and pull back the unruly dark hair into a pony tail, which hung in a thick bunch down the her back.

He moved about the room while she ran, deliberately not looking at her, but watching sureptitiously, making notes on a clipboard that he held. He would push her. If she had enough energy to sass out Lorne and give him grief, then he would make sure that energy was directed elsewhere. For now, this was the best he could do.

An hour wasn't long on the treadmill in the normal matter of training, but at the speed he had set it, it was intense and he could see that a half hour into the run her face glowed and sweat had begun to pool and run down her collarbone into the dark valley between her breasts. Her top became soaked and those resolute eyes, still sparking a little, looked straight ahead. He almost stopped it ten minutes later. She stumbled slightly, recovered her feet quickly and he moved to intercept, catch her in case she fell, but one scathing look from her and he stepped back. She would continue.

The hour completed and he watched as she climbed down off the treadmill and saw that her muscles held a stiffness from hard use. A twinge of guilt wound it's way through him and he fought to push it down. She'd got herself into the situation, and he would do her no favours if he didn't let her pull herself out.

She did however, take the water bottle that he offered and there was a grudging 'thank you' before she drew it to her lips and drank deeply. Fascinated, he watched as some of the water escaped her mouth and ran down her neck, and when she saw him looking she moved her hand down deliberately and wiped it away, dropping her gaze so that he couldn't read the expression there.

"You can strike that punishment off your list Colonel. I survived. And I'll survive whatever you dish me out. We're gonna go that route? You and I? Fine. Let's do it."

Her posture was angry and fuelled his own anger.

"Obstacle course - twice around, no stopping. If you miss something, or can't complete a particular part of the course, you start again. Oh.. and there's a time limit. Which starts now."

He decided that he had had enough inactivity and tossing down his clipboard he jogged to the start of the obstacle course and fell in behind her, keeping pace with her and pushing her along. She was aware of him behind her, but she gave no indication. The course was a punishing one and it included high ropes, low ropes, netting, wallclimbs and a variety of the climbing aparatus designed to test both strength and fitness. He had done it many times, in fact held the record for getting around it in a set time. She faltered at the high ropes, slipped a little and he saw her sharp intake of breath as the rope slipped through her fingers and she dropped to the ground. He was grabbing the rope behind her, glancing quickly at her hands, saw the redness and watched as her eyes followed his, and hardened. She turned, heading back to the start and he was behind her, grabbing her arm, stopping her.

"The start Colonel. I fell, I start again. You think I can't follow your damn orders? Maybe, this time I will."

"To prove you're tough? Or to prove you're stupid? I need to get a bandage on that and then you can start it again. Infection aint no picnic out here."

He didn't give her time to protest. Pulling her along to where they kept the first aid kit, he pushed her back none too gently against the cabinet, and dropped some alcohol straight onto the welt, watching as she sucked in a breath and her eyes sparked. But she didn't say anything and he placed some gauze on it, then wrapped a firm bandage around it, sealing it tightly so that it would withstand another run on the ropes. He knew she'd take another attempt at it.

"All good?"

When she didn't answer he reached out and tipped her chin up, looking down into her face that was shadowed by more than just a hint of sadness.

"What's your real story, I wonder..." he murmured more to himself, and watched as she shook her head slightly and dislodged his hand. She had to put her hands up and push against his chest to move him away so that she could breathe. He was too close, too much and she felt herself almost start to hyperventilate, and seeing the panic on her face as she moved past, he went to grab her again, but she was too fast.

"Damn it, Jo. Don't you shut down on me. We need each other out here... you need to learn that, and learn it fast."

"I'll take my chances alone, Colonel Sheppard. You'll thank me for it in the long run. Trouble... remember..."

She began the course again and he muttered to himself this time.

"Yeah... trouble aint the half of it."


	4. Chapter 4 Taking the wind from her sails

CHAPTER 4 – TO TAKE THE WIND FROM HER SAILS

He followed her through one rotation of the course, then he stepped back and observed. She was tiring, he could see that clearly. The subtle shift in her shoulders and the way that her head was not held quite as high and he noted that her injured hand hung a little loosely at her side when it was not in use.

She nearly made it to the end and in a cruel twist of fate her ankle faltered with exhaustion and she dropped, hitting the ground hard enough to cause a sharp cry from her. Berating himself for using methods that suddenly no longer sat right, he was at her side in seconds, dropping down beside her and pushing that long pony tail out of the way so that it no longer hit her face, and reaching down for her ankle.

"I'm fine. Leave it! Let me finish this damn course so that you can strike number two off your list. You're looking to me to quit? Not gonna happen, Colonel. I may be many things, but I don't give up."

"No?" His voice held a hint of derision. "Isn't that exactly what you did stateside with your behaviour? Simply gave up by acting like a spoilt brat? If you hadn't of given up on life then you wouldn't be here, putting up with the crap that I'm dishing out to you."

Her voice was a whisper now and as she pushed to her feet, she swayed a little. "You know nothing about my life... about what I went through..."

None so gently he caught her, keeping her on balance. "Damn it Jo – when did you last eat? You're white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf. Like you need sugar. Tell me, damn it." His hands bit into her upper arms and she forced herself to think back.

"Coffee... at breakfast, I think..." She put a hand to her head and rested it there, closing to eyes to stop the dizziness. She did not want to see that look on his face. That look laced with pity. She'd seen it enough over the past few months. Friends who thought she needed constant company, colleagues who attempted to take her out, thinking a fun night out would make her forget, make her less angry. They had no idea. Her father had died in questionable circumstances, yes. But she had been lied to by the military and she had farewelled her father without knowing what had really happened. She had turned her back on the military after that, but not before an email had found it's way into her inbox.

It seemed her father had been part of a secret military organisation, flying stealth space ships in a part of the galaxy that had supposedly yet to be explored.

And she had found out something else - something she had chosen to keep to herself, but not before railing her woes at a military system that had failed her family, as far as she was concerned.

She was brought back to the here and now by the biting hands of an angry Colonel, whose face was alarmingly close to hers and whose eyes saw a little too much. She wasn't ready to share her secret yet, wasn't ready to enlist the help of another in attempting to uncover what the email had implied.

She had to hang on to the anger, because that anger had got her here, to the Pegasus Galaxy and while the military were her enemy as far as she was concerned, being here... was not quite the dire situation she had made it out to be.

_Everything for a reason_ thought Jo, _ and that reason will become clear... soon. _

Caught up in her musings, she had not registered the fact that John had wrapped an arm around her and had pulled her tightly against his own body. And she had responded without thought to the comfort his body offered, and had turned into it and buried her face against his shirt, catching the surprised hitch in his voice as her hands fisted in his shirt.

And when her mind cleared of thought and she came back to herself, it was with a hiss of pain that she pulled away from him, ashamed at her weakness and ashamed that she had let her body take control of her emotions.

Suddenly bereft of her touch he had looked down at her in confusion, seen her eyes roll slightly back in her head and barely had time to catch her before she fell. He had eased her down to the ground, clicked his radio on and requested urgent medical attention.

Then sat back keeping her hand firmly in his, hating himself more than just a little for his punishing pace.

"What happened, Colonel?"

Dr Carson Beckett ran into the gym, followed closely by Sam who raised her eyebrows at John.

"I pushed her through training, Doc – it's my fault, but damn it! She wouldn't quit, wouldn't give up and I needed to punish her a little for giving Lorne so much grief this afternoon. I needed to make her see that her actions had a reaction. But I pushed her too far... ah crap."

He stood up and stepped away, looking down at the pale face surrounded by all that hair that had broken free of it's hair tie.

Carson had taken her pulse and was looking under her eyelids, noting the rapid movement.

"She's extremely pale, lad. When did she last eat? And was it wise pushing someone through this sort of training the same day she's just travelled from earth? I understand she is a first time gate traveller. What were you thinking, Colonel?"

"I wasn't Carson... damn it, - I wasn't. That's the short answer. I allowed my anger to get the better of me. She upset Lorne, and I took it out on her. I asked her the same question about the food, when I saw her about to go down... seems she had a coffee this morning at breakfast after she arrived... and nothing else."

"Ok, it's likely low blood sugar. Can you bring her to the infirmary, Colonel? We'll get some electrolytes into her, have her rehydrated and sugar levels back up. You might to rethink your training methods. They seem a little... harsh."

"Yeah... doc. Made sense at the time, but now? I don't know how I let her push me into a corner like that. Damn."

He picked her up, she was so light and he held her easily in his arms, and looking down at her pale face he saw the way her long dark hair spilled out over his arm. He followed Carson, filling Sam in along the way, and saw the knowing look in her eyes. She was a soldier, and she understood a little, why he had pushed the way he had. Her eyes fluttered open then, confusion in those silver depths, then awareness broke through and she struggled in his arms.

"Put me down... now. Please..." The words had come out harshly, then her strength had faltered again, and the last word came out almost as a plea, and he shook his head.

"I got you into this, and I'll help you get out... it's a little thing called responsibility, Jo. Something you'd do well to learn."

They had arrived at the infirmary and he lowered her onto the bed that Carson indicated, and the doctor busied himself setting up a drip and pushing her back down onto the bed when she tried to get up.

"Settle down lass... it's no sign of weakness to be here. Ask the Colonel – he spends more time in here than most. So let me take care of you, and you'll be out of here in no time. Do you trust me?"

Something in her eyes had made Carson ask this last question. Something a little lost - and while he had heard the rumours about this so called 'wild child' who had entered their midst, he suspected that there was more to the persona that what met the eye. And judging by what he had seen in the Colonel's eye, it had not taken him too long to get past the facade either.

But her natural barriers went up fast and Carson shook his head. He would wager there was a secret here. But for now? He'd keep his thoughts to himself. She'd ask for help when she was ready.


	5. Chapter 5 Making the grade

CHAPTER 5 – MAKING THE GRADE

_You handled that well, Sheppard. Way to go. Pushing a female to the point of exhaustion. Not your usual style, so what the hell got into you? Yeah. Right. You damn well know the answer to that. She did. With that angry tongue and those silver eyes and a vulnerability she thinks is well hidden. It was... until she let her defences down for that one precious moment and you saw her. Really saw her. And she's got a secret. _

That much he knew.

She stayed in the infirmary overnight and Carson only released her with the promise from Jo that she would eat properly, and the promise from John that he would not treat her like a punching bag. He had winced at that – there had been an element of truth in it and after taking himself to task for most of the night, he had awoken feeling like the world's worst kind of scumbag.

He stood at the doorway now, watching her. She was in the jumper bay, sprawled out on the floor with Rodney, papers spread around her, a puzzled look on her face. Rodney was gesturing with his hands and pointing at something on one of the pages,and she held a large instrument in her hand, turning it over and over.

"Playing nice, I see?"

His voice made her jump a little. She'd tried to avoid him, a little embarassed about what had happened yesterday and thought that distance would weaken the memory a little. No such luck. Just seeing him again brought those feelings home, the ones she had allowed to come through when she had stepped into his embrace. Comfort from someone who seemed to see right inside of her and past all the crap she had put up as self defence.

"Yeah... once Rodney got past the fact that I was just a mechanic..."

A laugh came from the doorway and John ventured further into the hangar bay, noting that the acerbic tone of voice was back. Her defence mechanism had kicked in automatically it seemed, and it would also appear that he was a catalyst for it.

_She hides the most from military. Why? Not just because her father died on a secret mission? There's another reason for her attitude, she's got something to hide and I need to find out what it is. My spidey senses are kicking in big time.. oh boy. Hell yeah!_

And he felt that familiar shiver as he looked into those silver gray eyes, and for a moment, a precious moment, she let him see past the anger and saw the frightened child, the confused woman, and a quest. For the truth. And he let his eyes widen in surprise, watching as she shuttered them again and turned back to Rodney.

"Actually, Sheppard – I am impressed and you know that I don't impress easily. The speed with which she can strip down a machine, any machine – is amazing. Show him, Jo."

"I'm not a damn performing monkey, Rodney. Can we just get on with this work? I'm sure Colonel Sheppard has far more... pressing duties to attend to. Like training."

That wicked slant to her eyes held more than just a hint of humour and he had the good grace to blush.

Rallying quickly, he turned, then shot a parting comment over his shoulder.

"I still like the punishment idea, Jo. And for the smart mouth, I have another one for you. Weapons training, this afternoon. You refused to do it with Lorne, you'll do it with me. This time,make sure you've eaten and leave the attitude behind. We'll get along just fine."

Jo groaned, but jerked up her chin, pushing herself to her feet and covering the distance so that she stood in front of him. He noticed that she limped a little, and knew she'd hurt that ankle when she fell. But she looked none the worse for wear after yesterday and that danger still lurked in her eyes and he was drawn into it like a moth to the flame.

"You got something to say, Jo?" He looked at her challengingly, daring her.

"Shake off the military stink, John..." she deliberately used his first name and not his rank..." and I'll tell you whatever you want to know..."

She sidled a little closer, needling him now, trying to cover whatever it was he saw in her eyes.

He gripped a handful of her shirt and pulled her closer, hearing the shocked gasp and watching as that... something... flared deep in her eyes.

"Don't tempt me, little lady. At the moment? I want to do something to you that'll have the dear old General wrapping his fist around my face. For now.. I'm holding myself back. But if you continue to look at me like that, I won't be holding back for long. Get my drift?"

She struggled to get out of his hold and he released her, watching as her face became wary, as though suddenly she had lost control.

"Loud and clear, John."

"Be down on the shooting range at 1400 hours. And Jo?" She looked back at him and he indicated the clothes she was wearing.

"That attire is much more appropriate for around the base."

And was rewarded with her chuckle as she looked down at the military fatigues she wore. Out of spite.

She wasn't late this time, and John nodded approvingly. Unbidden, she felt a flush of warmth at his approval and feeling just a little betrayed by her feelings, she stomped grumpily over to the line of weapons, hefted a semi automatic and quickly unassembled it, ressassembled it, loaded it and aimed it at the target. She held the stance, waiting until he had come up behind, silent as a panther. She felt him near, standing close behind, but not touching and lining her target up in the sight, sent off several shots which all went wide.

_Damnit... I let nerves get the better of me. I can shoot better than that... and now he thinks I'm useless. How is he doing this to me? _

His arms reached around her and latched onto her arms, holding them steady while she sighted down the barrel and to the target. He felt that small body as he pressed lightly into her and felt that small shudder that ran through her. His voice near her ear had her senses reeling, and she tried to hold herself still, and ignore the sensations that were coursing throug her.

"You rushed the sight. I know in the heat of battle you don't have the time, but the more accurate you are in training, the more likely you are to actually hit something when you are put in a situation where you have to. Now take your time..."

This time she took a breath, and lined up more carefully, aware fully of every muscle in his body that was presently in contact with hers. He kept his hands firmly on her arms, keeping her stance steady and when she fired the shots were true and she felt his lips smile against her ear. She waited for him to back away, give her some space – but he was slow to do that and one arm drifted down to her waist and lightly touched her there, as if waiting for permission.

She didn't give it. Couldn't.

And with a sigh he dropped his hands away and turning, picked up a P90, taking the semi automatic from her and placing the new weapon in her hands.

She was a little too comfortable with the other weapon. He needed to change the rules of the game a little.


	6. Chapter 6 Secrets

CHAPTER 6 – SECRETS

She'd not complained, nor had she let down her guard again and John had managed to keep his distance for the remainder of that lesson. The P90 had proved a little more difficult for her to handle. The weapon had a nasty kick if not handled right, and she had suffered her fair share of bruising from mishandling, but after an hour of working with it, she could hold it secure just under her shoulder, wincing a little as it came in repeated contact with the bruising already in place, and fire more or less accurate shots at the targets that had been set up.

He had nodded his approval, and again she had felt that warmth as though earning that was a big part of why she was out here.

_But it's not, Jo, and you know better than that. You're here now – it took you long enough, and you've got a job to do. And that doesn't include pleasing a Colonel who looks as though he wants to take you over his knee and beat out some of that sass in you. Keep up the game, it's why you're here and tonight? Time to make a move..._

When exhaustion showed on her face, he indicated that she could stop. Pulling her hair tie out and letting that long hair free, she had tossed a look in his direction as he had completed putting the weapons away.

"What? No smart comments for me today? No reprimands...?" She couldn't resist before she left. He appeared too calm and that troubled her a little. She had done her best to get under his skin, needing him to be pissed at her, and see her as nothing more than a trouble maker.

_Hide in plain sight..._ her Daddy had always told her, and that was exactly what she was trying to do.

His slanting glance was a little too knowing. "You did good today, and a little less lip... suits you." He sidled closer, stopping in front of her and looking down into her slightly flushed face and sighed.

"And I gave you enough grief yesterday... although I still maintain that you earned most of it. That hot temper was in check today, so you got a reprieve. It rears it's head again? You'll feel the sting of my hand on your rear end, and perhaps that will put you in a more ameniable frame of mind. But today? Good work.. now go! Get some dinner and relax a little this evening. Movies generally screen nightly in the rec room... not sure if that's your thing, but it might keep you out of trouble. Or if you're up for it? That wicked mind of yours likely plays a mean game of chess...?"

He deliberately left the question hanging in the ear and turned his back on her, sauntering away and feeling the heat of that lightning bolt gaze as it rested squarely between this shoulder blades.

_Ready, aim... fire._

Bullseye.

She didn't show up in the mess, nor was she in the movie room later that evening and just a little concerned, and more than mildly curious, he decided to pay her a visit. Against his better judgement he was sure.

He gave her the courtesy of a knock at the door and when he received no reply he simply opened it and stepped into her private quarters. He used concern as his justification. He was sure that she had not had dinner and if she had fallen asleep, he intended to wake her up and send her down for a late dinner. He was also more than just a little bit curious. Miss Josephine Barlow was a lot more than met the eye and he intended to strip away that facade and find out what the hell was going on with the real woman underneath.

Her quarters were empty and there was almost nothing of the woman in there. She travelled light. He saw one small bag and a simple scattering of cosmetics in the bathroom, far less than most women generally travelled with. Her clothes were dropped casually on the ground and he smiled to himself, thinking that her stint in the military had not taught her very much about tidiness.

He saw the paper sitting on the desk and without any compunction whatsoever, he moved over to it and picking it up, quickly read through it's contents.

What he saw had him rocking back on his heels in shock and sitting down abruptly on the bed. It seemed Miss Josephine Barlow had more than just a little secret. She had a hidden agenda and he needed to find her before someone got hurt.

He pushed the paper into his pocket and left the room, trying to push down the anger he found threatening to spiral up and out of control.

_Alone, you stupid woman? You chose to do this alone? You'll end up killed and I'm damned if I'll let that happen._

He prowled angrily through the hallways of Atlantis. No one had seen her, that much was clear from his discreet enquiries. He checked in the jumper bay, thinking that she might be working on the beaming technology that had seemed to fascinate her, but the bay was empty and the jumpers sat facing him, keeping their own secrets intact, if they had any.

Moving down to the lower levels of the city, he systematically searched all the rooms. It was getting late, hell – amend that. It was after midnight, and dawn wound it's fingers early around the city of Atlantis and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. When he found her...what? Just what the hell was he going to do? He was in no better position than her to do anything. So he did exactly as she had done. Used his temper and his anger to fuel his actions and this gave them a connection. For now.

Another two hours and he found her. She was down in one of the bottom storage laboratories, deep in the bowels of the city – where old mission reports had been uploaded into a central processing data bank for access if anything happened to the city and it had to be submerged. In the same way that the ancestors had done before abandoning the city.

The data was streaming through a hologram medium on a loop and he let his eyes flicker over that before moving to the woman who sprawled asleep on the table, arms folded and head resting uncomfortably upon them, hair spread out in disarray. Her cheeks were pale and those long dark lashes fanned out across her cheeks and he watched as he hair lifted slightly with each breath she took.

But he let that anger surge through him now. He had been more than just worried. Fear had started to bite away at him, and here she was. Sound asleep, expression peaceful, while he felt as though the demons from hell had been spurring him on.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Her eyes shot open immediately at the anger in his voice, and moving quickly, she was on her feet and pushing back the chair too fast, sending it clattering over. Loud in the quiet of this early morning.

"John... Colonel... what are you doing here?"

Sleep fogged her mind and thickened her voice, and his eyes narrowed as he took in her heavy eyes and slightly dazed expression.

"That's my line, sweetheart. And you'd better have an answer that I approve of, or there'll be some pretty fine angst coming your way. Immediately.

She backed away from him slightly. She had not had time to slip that facade over her face, control her emotions and they were raw. His presence down here and his anger struck with the force of lightning and at the moment? She had nothing to defend herself with.

He watched the play of emotions across her face, saw her withdrawal and reacted. Crossing the distance between them, he reached for her wrist and clamped down on it, preventing further withdrawal. Dragging her closer he growled.

"Answers, Jo... now!"

Fear crossed her eyes and she struggled for an answer that would make him go away. The truth? No! Never!

"I couldn't sleep... so I came down here... to look at some of the archived mission reports. I told Rodney that we'd get that beaming technology up and running in the next few days, and I thought I'd find something in the old mission reports that might be... relevant..."

"Your lies might sound ok to your ears, sweetheart, but to mine? They're making alarm bells ring. Now, you won't answer my questions down here, we'll go up to Sam's office and maybe you'll be more forthcoming with her."

He watched her face pale even more, and swore. He was scaring her, he knew that, but he had to force her hand. It seemed imperative now, and he had to earn her trust – somehow.

"No, John... please. Just let me go. There's nothing. Nothing you don't already know. Please... you're scaring me."

His large body loomed over hers now, and he slid his hand up her arm and around to the back of her neck, in spite of himself, stroking softly to ease the tension that he felt in her small body.

"If you won't do this here... then I'll take you some place you will..." At her look of fear, he lowered his voice and said a little more softly..." It'll be just you and me and some open air. Then maybe, just maybe sweetheart... you'll trust me enough to tell me about this.

He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket, that other hand still lightly pressing on her neck and he watched as her eyes dropped down to it, then flicked up immediately to his in alarm, and fear.

"Oh... god."

"He's not here right now, but I am. So, you need to start trusting me."


	7. Chapter 7 A place to scream

CHAPTER 7 – A PLACE TO SCREAM

He had slid his hand down from her neck and taking her hand in his, he had shoved the paper back in his pocket and turning, had dragged her along behind him.

He hadn't spoken, neither had she. Fear was billowing around in her mind as she tried to process the fact that she had just blown it. Almost running to keep up with him, he had dragged her through the hallways of Atlantis until they had arrived in the jumper bay and he had pushed her rather unceremoniously towards the open door of one.

"Get in there. Now. We're getting out of here."

"John...?" Her voice was small, and she paused in the doorway to the jumper. All aggravation and bad ass girl was stripped from her now, and he saw the real woman underneath. The who had stepped up to the mark and was going to take on something like this on her own. With no backup, with no help at all. Unbidden, respect for her rose, but was quickly pushed down by anger. It was a foolish quest and one he would put a stop to.

"Get in."

She had looked into the cold depths of his eyes, and she had done just that.

He had pushed her into the second seat, and taking his place in the pilot's seat he had activated his radio.

"Sheppard here. I'm taking jumper one to the mainland. Miss Josephine Barlow and I are going on a little... field trip. Sheppard out."

He had not waited for a response. At this stage he was unsure how he was going to proceed, his most pressing need at the moment was to get Jo away from Atlantis and give her a secure place to talk. For now though, he needed to simmer down his anger or she'd retreat in that protective shell and he'd get nothing out of her.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. The competent way he eased the jumper out of the bay and up into the Lantien sky, and watched his face, exhaustion etching fine lines around his eyes... and she felt more than just a little guilt. She knew that he had not slept yet, had likely spent most of the night looking for her.

Dawn was a whisper away, and she turned her gaze out to the dark water as they flew low over it, watching as the mainland came up then noting that he veered away, heading around the edge of the land until he finally brought the jumper down on a long stretch of sand. When it came to a standstill, he uncoiled his long body out of that seat like a panther, and she looked up as he stood over her, trying to school her features into something neutral.

He muttered an oath and she recognised that he sought to control his temper, and didn't protest... much... when he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the seat, still dragging her behind him as they exited the back of the jumper and stepped out onto the cold, hard sand.

He walked a distance away from the jumper, and turning, lifted his face slightly to catch the sea breeze and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again and releasing her hand. Grabbing the paper out of his pocket, he opened it up and in the questing fingers of light that signalled dawn was about to herald the start of a new day, he read the email aloud to her.

"I wish to offer my condolences on the death of your father and I have been in the unenviable postion of being privy to some information that will come as a shock to you.

You father's death is recorded in official channels as occurring in Afghansitan while flying an F16. This is not correct. Colonel Barlow was a member of an elite team known as Stargate 3, or SG3 and he flew a craft known as an F302 deep in space, as part of a secret programme known as Stargate. The F302 uses an alien energy source known as Naquadria to power a hyperdrive window generator, and is the first human-built space craft to be capable of short amounts of interstellar travel.

Your father was handpicked to fly these particular crafts because of his specific engineering skills. He was instrumental in reverse engineering the orginal model from Goa'uld technology and has revised the blueprints of a large number of alien technology.

Official secret military reports state that Colonel Barlow was flying an F302 when he was shot down in the milky way galaxy, while on general reconnaissance duties based on board the Prometheus Class warship. It has also been reported that he was testing piloting these particular F302's because of various modifications that had been done to them. You will no doubt find these words difficult to read, however you have been in the military long enough to know that there are many secrets within it. Your father in particular, was a man who was privy to many secrets within the airforce and his knowledge, should it have fallen into the wrong hands would give any enemy valuable information about not only earth, but our allies and protectors, a race of aliens known as the Asgard.

I have since come across unsubstantiated information that the Colonel did not in fact, die on this mission. The Colonel and one other pilot were captured by a non earth vessel that was noted as cruising in deep space by the commander on board the Prometheus, but the unidentified ship disappeared immediately along with the captured pilots and crafts and it was believed that a hyperspace window was opened.

A search was made for the ship, and when no sign of it was found, he was listed as being MIA. No official mention is made of the unknown ship and it appears that a full scale cover up has been put into place. It has since come to my attention that the unknown vessel was in fact from the Pegasus Galaxy, a dwarf galaxy in the Local Group, located approximately three million light years from the Milky Way ..."

He paused briefly, looking down at her to catch the look of utter sadness on her face, but he read on, The email went on in great detail, noting some of the particular technologies that her father had been working on and summarising how the earth contingent had come to be situated in Atlantis. The detail within the email was staggering and John knew that it would have been rerouted through many different servers in order to shield the identity of the sender. She was told to trust no one, even General O'Neill, who it was believed, was instrumental in covering up what really happened.

John faltered on these last words and his hand dropped, letting the paper rest against his thigh.

Finally he gave her his full attention. She had not spoken, but tears glistened in her eyes, and her shoulders had hunched slightly as though she could build a shield against the words he read.

"Just what the hell do you think you can prove by coming out here? I don't get it? It's stupidity, pure and simple. You trust no one. I get that. But out there? You know NOTHING, about Atlantis. NOTHING more than what you read in this email. And you come barrelling out here, all guns blazing with that giant chip on your shoulder... completely engineering your getting sent here..."

Her voice was small. "What else did you expect me to do? It was my father, John. Don't try and tell me wouldn't have done the same..."

He thought a moment before answering her. "Yeah... I would have done the same. But I'm here. I'm trained for this. Trained out here. And I know the truth. But O'Neill? I don't get that... I can't believe he's involved. If he was, would he have suggested … no... demanded that you come out here? Think about it, Jo. Why did he send you here... O'Neill's an astute man, more so than some give him credit for. You might have thought you were playing him... but I'm thinking? He was the one playing you..."

Something dawned in Jo's eyes. "So he didn't buy my bad ass routine...but why would someone implicate him..."

"Someone? Or himself... He had a lot of good things to say about you, Jo... that's why I found this whole giant chip on the shoulder thing to be a little too convenient. Think about it some more. He couldn't do anything from there.. he needed someone out here he could trust. He knew you needed to hit out at the world, so he gave you the perfect way to do it."

"He sent me here..."

"He found a way to get you here. And by implicating, or implying that he may be somehow involved... then you wouldn't go running back to him with the information. Keeping him out of the loop, keeps the heat off you. From whoever is really trying to cover it up."

Her breath hitched and she understood the relief of someone else knowing.

"You believe me... I thought...I'd have to go this alone... and John? I was so damn scared, but I didn't know who I could trust. I just want to save him. He's my anchor...was, is? I want my anchor back..."

A sob, and he watched as those tears flowed and she released the tension that she had kept coiled in there for the past few months. Hiding an agenda, keeping secret the news that her father may not be dead, and pushing down that innate desire to pick up the first gun she could find and go find him... all guns blazing. It had taken more than she thought she had, to plan, to perfect that bad ass routine that got her thrown out of the military and to force Jack's hand. She had found a way to give him no choice... and she had sensed him more than once, wanting to tell her about what he really did. It was a hard sell to push a little further, and make him go all the way.

Logic warred with what was written on that email. Of course he had nothing to do with it. If he had, would he have pushed to send her out there? She knew that, but seeing the words in black and white. She had simply not wanted to take the risk and trust anyone.

Until she had met this angry, sharp minded Colonel, who had blown her cover in days and given her a reason to fight. Not just for her father, but for herself.

And that same Colonel stepped forward now and folded her in his arms, warm and safe for the first time in months. Content to rest there and let him take some of the heavy weight from her small shoulders, she did not notice his shuddering breath as he breathed in the scent of her hair nor the way he shut his eyes briefly to let that soft little body send spiked feelings of awareness through his own body.

From bad ass bitch to vulnerable woman... it seemed he was not in a position to resist either one of them.


	8. Chapter 8 To face the music

CHAPTER 8 – TO FACE THE MUSIC

He led her down the beach as the sun broke the horizon and watched as she squinted against the harsh light. He had returned to the jumper briefly, grabbing a food bar and a blanket, and had passed one to her and wrapped the other around her shoulders – the early morning on the mainland was cold, and he had felt her tremors when he had held her in his arms.

They walked and he let her talk. About her father, about growing up, and about how she had felt when she got the news of his death. How her world had come crashing down around her. She had railed against the military. That much had been true, and she had begun to make some questionable decisions and that road to self destruction? It had beckoned.

And it seemed that General O'Neill had known the only way to bring her back from that brink. He had given her something to sink her teeth into, a way to survive in a world where hope had suddenly come crashing down around her ears. By sending her to another world.

She snuggled into her blanket and he looked down at her, watching as the sunlight picked up highlights in her hair, and he gave it a tug now.

"You have some seriously good acting skills, Miss Barlow. That attitude when you came through the gate... academy award. Not to mention poor Major Lorne..."

"Yeah, I feel a bit bad about that... he's kinda nice. And he really tried to help me fit in... I was kinda... mean to him?"

"Mean? You didn't see his face when he found me later. Mean? Lorne's got pretty thick skin, and to get under it like that, you must have used some pretty sharp tactics... although, those shorts... hmmm... they added to the fire, I must say."

"I saw you checking me out in them... and don't try to deny it, Colonel John Sheppard!" She had quirked those silver eyes up at him, finding humour in his hazel ones as he nodded.

"They did make me want to do... inappropriate... things with you."

"And that you did... you got your own back anyway... that obstacle course thing? You have no idea how close to the edge I was, but damn it, I was not going to give you the satsifaction."

He tugged her blanket so that she bumped against him, and he raised the same hand to the back of her neck, rubbing lightly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that... really. No amount of aggravation should have pushed me down that path. I was pissed, no doubt about it, but I wanted to shake you a little too. I knew that facade was hiding something, and I made the wrong call."

"Damn." He swore lightly and reached up to activate his radio. He had turned it off deliberately when he stepped into the jumper, after his initial contact with the control room. He had wanted no interuptions.

"What it is John?" Silver eyes slanted his way in question.

"Time to go back and face the music..." As if on cue, his radio activated and Sam's controlled anger came through loud and clear and John sighed, mentally formulating the words in his mind for what he knew would be an intense meeting with one angry base commander.

The arrived back in the jumper bay and Sam was waiting. John sighed again. Yep, she was pissed, and rightfully so. Time to face the music.

"My office, John. Jo. Now."

No argument from either of them, and no acknowledgement for now. They simply turned and followed her and John knew that the crap was about to hit the fan.

She had barely sat down and he saw those blue eyes flash with anger. To preempt her, he simply took the email out of his pocket and placed it on her desk. He had discussed with Jo, the need to trust Sam and his team. She had pulled back at first, knowing that Sam was close to Jack, but John had insisted. He knew Sam and he knew his team and there would be no trust issues there.

She read and he watched her brow furrow. From time to time she flicked glances at Jo and when she had finished she put down the email and simply looked at them.

"I'd be disappointed in both of you if you believed that Jack had anything to do with this."

He told her his theory. About how Jack had sent the email to Jo as a means to get someone out here in the Pegasus Galaxy, someone who was not military, someone who could not possibly be involved in the cover up.

John turned to Jo, a question in his eyes.

"When I found you down in the data lab, what were you looking for?"

She stumbled a little over her words. Tiredness was setting in now, and the relief of sharing that huge burden brought exhaustion to her body, as a weight was lifted from her mind.

"I was looking to see what what sort of ships you have encountered on previous missions. If that ship came from here... then it was likely that one of the teams had run into it. The reports I read indicate that … there are very little... worlds with … space travel capabilities..." She yawned widely on these last words and Sam pushed down the spark of amusement in her eyes. Now was not the time for levity.

"I need time to think this through. You do realise Jo, that even if part of this is true, and your father and that other pilot were captured by a ship in the milky way, one that did not belong to earth... the chances of him still being alive are slim? We can only assume a vague idea as to why they would have been taken... the technology on the F302's is quite advanced, by even Pegasus standards, so it would not be too big a leap to guess that the ships were what they wanted. Also, considering what this email tells us, your father had been working on modifications and we can only guess that these were sufficiently advanced enough to generate interest from... someone. Out here. Which would indicate that the pilots were redundant."

"Except for the fact that Colonel Barlow was privy to the most advanced Asgard technology and if this little fact was set out in the email, it tends to make one think that the capturing of this particular pilot may have been as important as capturing those ships..."

"Good point John. I won't go to Jack with this... you have my word on it, Jo. If he did send you this email, then he wanted his anonymonity for a reason, and we need to respect that, for whatever reason. But you have to trust me, trust John and his team. If a cover up was put in place, then someone knew the pilots had been targetted."

"Which leads into the question, Sam. Why cover up? Why not just send out search and rescue – at least make some attempt to find them. Nothing was done."

"Perhaps the other ship was not there by accident..."

John's eyes shot to Sam's as the implication set in.

"A deal on the table..."

"A deal with the devil John. We need to track that ship. If the devil is loose in this galaxy, then I want to send him straight back to hell. And get our pilots back if they're still alive."

John yawned this time, and amusement did quirk Sam's mouth this time.

"You two... bed. I need some time to think."

John touched Jo's waist lightly, guiding her out of Sam's office. He bent close to her ear and said quietly.

"So... bed, Jo?"

"Alone, John..."

"Just askin'..."

"Hmmmm...You do know that it was all just an act John... I'm not really _that_ girl."

"What? The tease, those sulky pouty lips, that hot stare... so, not even a tiny of you in there?"

"None whatsoever... a character, a role, a part... I made her up."

"Ahh, but you protest just a little too much. You see, I think there's a little bit of _that_ girl in you, and just so you know... I kinda like _that _girl. She kinda turns me on..."

And he chuckled at the look she slanted his way and left her at the door to her quarters.

Alone.


	9. Chapter 9 Under the radar

CHAPTER 9 – UNDER THE RADAR

A loud knock at her door dragged her rudely out of sleep two hours later. If one could call tossing and turning in a dark room filled with uncomfortable thoughts - sleep. She barely had time to get one eye open and the door slid open, and an angry Major Lorne strode in, his features set and hard.

"Uh... Major? Did we wander into the wrong room?"

Sleep fogged her voice and Lorne raked his eyes over her. She had sat up in bed and the covers puddled in her lap and he schooled his eyes not to register the fact that she wore very little. Just a bra in fact, and he was trying very hard not to look too closely at that.

"I don't give up on trainees Barlow. Get your ass out of bed now, and down to the gear room. I have offworld training scheduled for my group, and you're on it. No excuses."

She tried to clear her head, and pushing herself out of bed, realised somewhat belatedly that she wore only underwear and turning quickly, reached for a tshirt that had been thrown unceremoniously into a pile on the floor last night. Or this morning.

'Major... are you nuts? I just got into bed... give a girl a break."

She managed to pull the tshirt over her head, but it only came down to her hips, and his eyes were drawn to her legs, which were even more on view than they were yesterday and that had caused him all sorts of trouble then.

"Your night time activities are not my concern. Neither is your lack of sleep. The Colonel asked me to train you. Train you I will... one way or another. I give the orders, and whether or not you are military, I am your boss, and you will follow those orders. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Lorne."

The dry voice of John Sheppard had Lorne turning sharply, and he saw that the Colonel now lounged in the door, a small smile on his face. "I thought I absolved you of this particular responsibility yesterday."

"You did, sir... but I got to thinking. I wouldn't give up on any other trainee like that, so I'm taking the same tack you did. Run that attitude out of her. I have training scheduled offworld this morning. A run in full gear. I want her there, ready in the gate room in full gear in one hour."

John raised an eyebrow at his brusque tone and knew the reason for it. Lorne was angry at having let her appear to get the better of him. As commander of SGA2, he had a reputation of his own to uphold and Jo had undermined him the previous day in front of his team, and his subordinates. That was not acceptable and he sought to seek retributation and save face. John understood that and would do the same thing himself. Unfortunately, he now knew the full story, one that Lorne could not be made privy to just yet.

"She's not cleared yet Lorne, medically. I already knocked some of that crap outta her, unfortunately it got me into an even bigger pile of crap with Carson."

Jo cleared her throat. "Uh... guys... not so impressed with the whole 'talking around me' concept. Think you could address your comments to me? Major Lorne, I apologise. For the way I treated you yesterday... really. I was a bitch... I have some issues, which is the reason dear old Jack sent me here, and I'm trying to work through those... but is it working? Not so much..."

She moved closer to him, and his eyes flicked downwards again, taking in the shapely legs, and the bedroom eyes, still fighting the last tendrils of sleep that dragged incessant fingers through her mind.

"You want me to prove how sorry I am? Sure, Major. I'll go on your training run... will that square things up between us? John? Does that count as punishment number 3? I'm racking up the credits I should think..."

John had pushed past Lorne and gripped Jo by the upper arm, propelling her back toward the bed.

"You'll put some clothes on, sweetheart - for a start. Parading around in next to nothing wins you no extra points, but might make my hand itch to place it rather sharply on that somewhat exposed area. That will be my punishment!"

Her startled eyes shot upwards and saw that he didn't speak in jest and realised that he was attempting to play the same role he did yesterday. In front of Major Lorne.

Lorne felt his own anger diminish just a little. It appeared the lady was already in the hot water with the Colonel, and the punishments were adding up every time she opened that mouth of hers.

John slanted his gaze over his shoulder at Lorne. "Leave this with me Lorne. I'll handle her. You'll get your shot at taming the shrew."

He felt Jo's hand come up, and hidden from Lorne's sight it grasped him rather firmly in an extremely sensitive area and all Lorne could see was the widening of her eyes as she acknowledged his comment. She kept her eyes on his over John's shoulder and put an award winning amount of penance into her voice.

"I'll be in the jumper bay... as requested. Major Lorne. Sir."

He looked at her suspiciously, noting the tense posture of the Colonel, his back to Lorne.

"Colonel?"

"Yes, Lorne?" His teeth gritted together as he looked down at the woman who quite literally held his balls in her hand at the moment, punishment no doubt, for the previous comment.

"Um... you ok, sir? You seem a little tense."

"Fine. Major. Just fine. Your trainee will be there. With full gear... in fact. Add extra... weights."

"Sir?"

"Dismissed, Major."

"Yes, sir!"

Only when the door released shut behind him did John let out a breath and Jo let out what she was holding. Most certainly not her breath. She stepped back quickly, heading for the bathroom - fast. But not fast enough. He caught her around the midsection, banding his arm tightly around her stomach, and dragged her backwards against him. Turning her quickly he gave her a not so gentle swat on the backside, and the slight sting caused her to yelp in surprise.

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it. Damn it, Jo. You're lucky I don't bend you over my knee. What the hell are you thinking? You just had to open your big mouth. Now? Now, you get the fun of a training offworld run. I can't step in and bail you out on this one, not after what you put Lorne through yesterday. And quite frankly, after that little stunt you just pulled, I have no desire to bail you out. What role are you playing now? You're so caught up in perpetuating this lie that you don't know which hat to wear. The sexy, mouthy little bitch? Well, sugar. You pulled that one off yet again."

She hadn't moved away from him, still held in the circle of his arms that had banded around her again after that rewarding swat on her rear. His hand still stung a little and he knew that it had had to hurt. But hell, she had deserved it. But anger had fled as he felt the softness of her body and that same hand that had stung, now caressed, running smoothly up her thigh and over the area he had just laid a hand on in anger.

"Ah, sweetheart. I'd give you carte blanche to pay me back, but my balls are still smarting from that rather lethal grip...so consider us even."

He dropped his head and nuzzled her neck, and she moved slightly, so that her hair fell to one side and he groaned, feeling her breath hitch as he kissed a trail down that pale column. He got as far as her collarbone then almost roughly, he pushed her away, turning her in the direction of the bathroom and giving her a not so gentle push into the room.

"Shower. Now. We're not gonna drag each other down to the gutter. Not like this. Not with emotions running high and hot. Go meet Lorne. I need to get my team together and brief them, and I would prefer to do that without you around. You're too distracting and I can't think straight when you get near me like that. So go... before I change my mind and decide the gutter's not so bad."

The look she gave him over her shoulder before she slammed the bathroom door had his blood boiling in his veins and his lower regions straining uncomfortably at the zipper.

Damn, he wanted her. Enough to take her any way he could.

And he was not ready to bring himself down to that level.

Yet.


	10. Chapter 10 Things go south

CHAPTER 10 – THINGS GO SOUTH

She reported to the jumper bay as requested after first stopping off in the gear room and getting some assistance from one of the marines as to what 'full gear' meant. When he was done helping her, she had wished she hadn't asked. Tactical vest, P90 and a backpack filled with emergency rations that weighed 10kilograms. She groaned. It was heavy now, but she knew that after a training run with that on her back and the heavy tactical vest, she was going be feeling more than just a little under the weather. She was exhausted from both the lack of sleep from the night before and the emotional rollercoaster that she had been riding around and around. She had felt a brief moment of respite last night, had thought that finally it was coming to a stop at the station and she could get off. But today? That ride was taking another spin on the track, and she was feeling both nauseous and light headed. The marine said little to her as he assisted and she guessed that her reputation was following her around the base like a bad smell. She was too tired to attempt any conversation herself, so let him pull tabs and clip on additional gear in silence.

When she arrived in the jumper bay, Lorne was there and watched her approach with curious eyes. He noted the dark circles on the pale face and the lackluster approach and wondered if he should send her to the infirmary for a check, rather than pulling rank and making her pay some penance for the stunt she pulled yesterday. She did not look well, her eyes were overbright and did not seem to focus on any one thing, instead they skittered around the gate room, as though to spend too long looking at any one thing would bring unwanted attention. He'd make her do the run, but keep an eye on her. Like the Colonel he was starting to think there was a little more beneath the surface than what this prickly, mouthy woman let the world see.

"Ok team. The terrain on P9T12Y is a little mountainous, and certainly not a walk in the park. I have chosen this particular planet because the oxygen levels are a little richer. This will make you work a little harder. If you find this hard? Then running on the mainland will be a cinch. There are no heroes here. If you feel faint or lightheated you will stop. For safety reasons. The additional oxygen can cause problems in some people. We work in the buddy system - again for safety. Miss Barlow? I'll not inflict you on any of these impressionable lads here, so you'll be with me. Any questions?"

His eyes linked immediately with Jo's as if waiting for a protest of some sort, and she rolled her eyes, clamping her mouth shut immediately. She was already in his bad books and did not wish to take out another page.

They stepped through the gate and Jo staggered a little on the flipside, the weight of the pack and her already tired body, taking more than just a little pounding as she passed through the wormhole. Lorne, a little concerned, steadied her, sending the other teams ahead. The course had already been mapped out by him previously. When they had first arrived in Atlantis, Lorne had spent some time setting up the different training scenarios, and this particular course was of relative difficulty and marked along the way. It was twenty kilometers long and included some slightly mountainous terrain with a jungle type topography and he knew that it would challenge even the fittest recruit.

Boot camp Pegasus style.

"You up for this, Barlow?" He kept his voice brusque, but his eyes were professionally assessing her pale skin, now covered in a sheen of sweat. He clamped a hand at her wrist, and felt her pulse, which seemed rapid and a little out of control. His eyes narrowed when she pulled her hand away, and fiddled with one of the straps of her backpack.

"Good to go, Major. Sir!" Her voice was equally brusque. She didn't want to upset him further and attempted to fall back on her military days, keeping communication to a minimum and a cold respect in her voice.

"Let's do this then." He paused. "Barlow?"

"Sir?"

"What was your rank, before you... uh... left the military."

"Kicked out...sir. Not left. Call a spade a spade. And rank? That would be Major... Major."

He raised his eyebrows. To push through to major that fast, she must have been something special. And it must have taken a hell of a knock to make her turn her back on that.

He set off at a medium pace, a small nagging finger in his conscience pointing out that it was unlikely she was medically fit for this and knowing that she now she had her own reputation to maintain, she would not willingly pull out. His responsibility as her superior officer was to push her, yes. Kill her...no.

They ran an easy 10k and then he made her stop for water and a two minute break. He noted that she did some stretching to ease her muscles from the punishment that John had dished out yesterday, and his estimation of her rose a notch or two. She had not complained, and had not slackened the pace. Perhaps, if she could find her way back to that place in her life when things made sense, she would find some way to reinstate her tenure in the military. If there were extenuating circumstances to her dismissal, then it could perhaps be revisited. Second chances. There were few people out there who did not deserve them, and from what Lorne had seen of Jo today, she was a pretty sure candidate for one.

Lorne had just clipped his water bottle back to this tactical vest when a telltale whine vibrated overhead. Instinct kicked in, and he grabbed Jo's arm and moved quickly off the path into the bushes along side the track.

Once she was secure, he clicked on his radio. "Wraith. Incoming. Take cover. Everyone copy that?"

He waited until he had received confirmation from all the teams and turned to look at Jo. Instinct had kicked in, and he had forgotten for that moment, that Jo was military trained. He had not needed to protect her, but she did not know about the wraith, and his first thought had been to get her away from the darts and the potential beam.

"Jesus, Major. What the hell was that. My father..." She paled, and shut her mouth quickly, and turned away, looking up at the sky instead, to track the sound of the whine, watching as the dart headed back in their direction.

"You father – what? Jo?" Something in her voice had him softening his. "Your father was shot down, wasn't he? You can be rest assured it wasn't by wraith. They've yet to venture into the milky way galaxy."

"Wraith... I understand from the data base that the wraith only visit planets where human settlements have been established. Why would they come here? You said yourself, this planet is too rich in oxygen to sustain human life for long periods."

"You've been studying... good girl. You need to understand the enemy. And out here? The wraith are our enemy, the enemy of humans in this galaxy. I don't know why they're here... I have been to this planet many times, and never encountered wraith. Look out... we've got another dart incoming."

He pulled her deeper into the bush as a second dart flew overhead.

"I need to contact Atlantis. Wait here while I go back to the gate. You'll be safe if you stay off the main path. They're searching for something."

"Major... it's over ten clicks back to the gate. Let me go. If I ditch the pack I can get there quicker... hell, I hold the 10k record at boot camp. Nobody could catch me on a good day."

Something in her voice dragged his gaze back to her, watching those silver eyes as memories drifted through them, obliterating the present for a few precious moments.

"And today, Jo? Is today a good day...? 'Cause yesterday... I don't even want to think about that place you wallowed in. Definitely not a good place..."

"Yesterday, Major... I was a girl with nothing left, but questions that needed answering. That's all I can tell you for now. The rest of the story is a work in progress. Today? I'm trying... "

He risked placing a hand on her cheek, something in those silver eyes bringing out a pang of longing in him. Not _that _ sort of longing, but she needed someone to put their arms around her and give her back a little of what she had thrown away. He deliberately avoided using the word 'lost'. Her path was not lost, it was destroyed by her own actions. She needed a friend to help her rebuild it, and Lorne was a sucker for anyone who had the guts to grab hold of that second chance.

"Thanks for the offer, Jo – but I need you to wait here. Keep contact with the other teams and they'll work their way back to you, under cover."

"Major, with all due respect... sir." He smirked a little at her irreverence, this time done with humour. "We need to find out what those darts are here for. If this planet has not provided them with human... sustenance... in the past, then they are here for another reason."

"After I radio Atlantis. And you stay put for now...ok?" he gave her a sharp glance, and she widened those eyes, pulled herself up to her not so substantial height and said nothing.

"Jo... acknowledge my orders... please. Give me a little piece of mind... hmmm?"

"I... acknowledge... your orders, Major. Most definitely."

_That wasn't the same as obeying them. Was it? That ship... Lorne could be wrong. I have to check out where those ships are going... my father could be here... somewhere. _

And as Lorne cast a last glance at her as he shucked off his backpack, he felt a prickle of unease. Something in the tone of her voice just did not sit right.


	11. Chapter 11 Orders are orders

CHAPTER 11 – ORDERS ARE ORDERS

"Colonel Sheppard, sir? We're got a problem."

John clicked on his radio to acknowledge the voice of gate technician, rolling his eyes a little at Teyla and Ronon, who lounged against one of the lab tables. They were down in Rodney's lab and after asking Rodney's assistants to very nicely go and take a long break, John had sat his team down and given them the contents of the email that Jo had received.

"Sheppard here. What sort of problem..."

"Uh,sir? Major Lorne's team is an hour late in checking in and Colonel Carter asked me to try and dial the gate on that planet, and check whether he was near enough to respond. There is no response from the gate, sir."

John shook his head slightly, not quite sure what the problem was. Perhaps Lorne had just run them a little longer and they were late getting back to the gate. An hour wasn't such a big deal and he told the gate technician as much.

"Uh, sir? I'll rephrase that. The gate appears to be malfunctioning. I cannot get the dialling computer to connect with the DHD."

"Could be a number of reasons for that Sheppard." Rodney looked up from his computer. He was presently compiling a list of all the societies in the pegasus galaxy technologically advanced enough to have ships of some description.

"Yeah, name one, Rodney. And if it is malfunctioning, we need to get them some sort of help. There's no technician's on the planet at the moment, only marines in training."

Rodney replied in a slightly acerbic tone. "You seem to have forgotten that the rather bossy and somewhat capable Josephine Barlow is in Lorne's present company. Which would indicate that they have at least one technician at hand."

"She could fix the DHD? I thought mechanics was her specialty? She would never have worked with the crystal technology before, I doubt she'd have any clue as to how to fix a malfunctioning DHD." John pushed away from the lab table, about to head up to the control room to check in with Sam.

"You'd be surprised Sheppard. That woman has magic hands. And crystal technology did not appear to be an issue when I had her stripping down that beam technology yesterday."

Ronon followed him, Teyla sharing an amused glance with Rodney. "Sheppard? We could take a jumper. Bring additional crystals."

"Good thinking, Ronon. Rodney? Could use your help on this one, just in case the gate does need specific expertise. I'll clear it with Sam and we'll leave immediately."

He strode out quickly and Rodney packed up his computer, grabbed the sandwich that was resting on his desk half eaten, and jogged after the departing trio.

As soon as Lorne was out of sight, Jo sighted the dart overhead, and tracked it's trajectory, wanting to know which direction it went each time. They did appear to be searching, and when it passed over once more, she quickly moved onto the trail where she could run faster and broke into a fast jog, heading in the direction of the receding drone. When she heard the noise appear to return, she heeded Lorne's advice and promptly left the exposed track and took refuge in the bushes, each time waiting until the dart had moved away.

She had been moving for around two clicks in a north westerly direction and the dart had not passed back this way for some time. She halted, leaning down slightly to get her breath. The markers that Lorne had left were not on this trail so she assumed that the other trainees would not be running into her anytime soon, and a part of her was a little relieved. It would give her some time to do some reconaissance on her own.

When the dart flew over again, she noticed that it was lower in the sky this time and appeared to be coming in for a landing. She had not heard the second one for some time and wondered whether it had already landed, or left the area. She hoped for the latter.

A little out of breath now, she rounded the last turn in the trail and found herself at the base of a large mountain. There was nowhere to go apart from back the way she had come, the mountain stretched upwards in front of her and at the base of the mountain there was a large cave that appeared to have been built upon and reinforced. In the small clearing in front of the cave stood a lone ship, needle like in shape and she assumed the name 'dart' had come from it's shape.

The ship was empty.

Not feeling quite so brave, she crept closer to the ship. She knew immediately that it was nothing like anything she had seen before. The components were... different. The material seemed organic rather than fabricated and when she peered into the cockpit she noted a sticky substance that seemed to coat most of the area. Almost like a spiders web. Reaching out a cautious finger, she touched it and found it slightly slimey in texture.

However, the cave beckoned. The inhabitant of the dart had obviously gone in there, and it was a relatively safe bet that something was being hidden in there. Something they did not want prying eyes to see, as this particular hiding place was quite literally, in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as she entered the tunnel, she heard sounds. Dripping of water as it fell incessantly from the roof of the tunnel to the floor. The skittering of something... unknown and Jo was quick to imagine the tiny claws of small scaled creatures, retreating from the light which she held out as security in front of her.

And further up ahead she heard the echoing thud of footsteps and sped up her pace slightly, keeping her steps light and even. She did not want to alert them to her presence.

The inside of the tunnel had been reinforced dramatically, with additional supports along the sides and clearly showing where rooms had been cut into the side of the mountain. The walls of the tunnel appeared to be of a similar material to the one she had found in the ship, and touching it lightly, she found it had the same slightly slimey texture and wondered what sort of alien technology had built this.

Rooms cut into secret tunnels under a mountain. If something of importance wasn't been done down here, then she hang her instincts up and trade them in for new ones. Whoever these people were... wraith?.. and she nothing more about them than what she had found in the data base before she had fallen asleep in the data chamber at Atlantis, and what Jack had imparted to her...briefly... before she left for Atlantis – then they had taken great pains for hide something from the rest of the galaxy. And she intended to find out what it was, because for some unexplained reason... she had the damnedness feeling that her father was somehow mixed up in all of this.


	12. Chapter 12 Discovery

CHAPTER 12 – DISCOVERY

The first room she entered yielded nothing of any particular interest. It was a laboratory of some sort and there were several pod like capsules along the wall that were covered in the sticky spider web substance that she was finding in abundance down here. There was a distinct odor in the air as well, one that she couldn't identify and at first thought, she wondered if it was some sort of chemical. The sensation was of smelling something with an alkaline base, and moving closer to one of the empty capsules, she cautiously sniffed the substance and she found it did give off an alkaline odor.

She prowled a little restlessly around the room. A long lab bench, some makeshift cabinets... otherwise it was empty with a layer of dust covering the surface. If this room had once been used for anything of importance, then it had been a long time ago. Looking down at the ground she saw that the only footprints in the room were hers and made the decision to investigate further. This warred with the knowledge that she should get back to where Lorne had left her. The time it had taken for her to get here, she knew that Lorne would have likely completed his contact with Atlantis and would be back at the rendevous point, along with the other trainees.

And he would be mighty pissed when he found that she was no longer there.

Resolution and a need for the truth, warred with common sense and it was common sense that lost the battle this time around. She turned and headed deeper into the tunnel, no longer able to hear any sounds. The footsteps had long since stopped and Jo assumed that whoever had gotten out of that ship had reached their destination.

Another two rooms, these identical to the first one she had looked in and the second one? This showed signs of recent activity. The long cabinet along the wall held containers and when she moved closer to peer into them, she found organs resting in fluids of some sort. Human organs, and she gagged slightly and again smelt that alkaline odor. Staring with both fascination and a little revulsion into one container that held what looked like a human kidney, the thought slammed into her mind that some sort of medical experimentation was being done in this secret underground chamber.

This is mind, she carefully backed out of the room. She needed to get back to Lorne. It was becoming dangerous, and the inhabitant of the dart would return soon, and she would be trapped. She filed away what she had learnt so far. She would tell John, and get him to bring back reinforcements to go through this place with a fine tooth comb. She still felt those insistent stirrings that somehow, her father had been here. They had always shared a strong connection, and that was one of the reasons that when she had been told about his death... it had simply just not rung true. Her friends and colleagues assumed her difficulty to accept his death was due to the fact that he was more or less her last living relative, but what they didn't understand? She would have known if he had been dead. She would have felt that connection sever.

And if anything? It had gotten stronger.

She had been about to turn back, about to follow those self preservation instincts that told her to leave. But she heard a sound. A rhythmic metallic noise and it was her innate curiousity that led her further into the tunnel, rather than in the opposite direction, where logic would have dictated she go.

The tunnel widened and Jo could quite clearly see that she was nearing the end now. Turning a corner she saw that it widened further, into a rounded dead end and a large room had been cut into the end of the tunnel. The door was open, but she could see nothing inside. Having come this far, she needed to know. Creeping closer, staying against the walls for some sort of security that allowed her to remain out of the muted lighting that lit the tunnels, she felt the stickiness against her back and she had to force herself not to shudder with revulsion. Whatever that substance was? It felt disgusting and she knew that a very long and very hot shower would be the first thing on the cards when she got back to Atlantis.

Oh, maybe the second. Firstly? No doubt she would have to face John's wrath for disobeying orders. Again.

She cautiously eased her way around the doorway and saw the wraith. He had his back to her, and she had to jam her fist into her mouth to stifle the shocked gasp that came unbidden. Even from this angle, he was terrifying. Extremely tall with long white hair, and what brought goosebumps to her skin in a fine pattern... that hand. The one he now held up to the light, with a jar of... something... in it? Was impossibly large and was adorned with some sort of cut in the middle.

Jumbled words from Jack's notes and jumbled pictures from the holographic data room slammed home the necessary information. His feeding hand. If he turned now and saw her? He would be on her in seconds and that hand would suck out all measure of humanity from her in minutes.

She needed to leave, right now.

A sound? She didn't know what. But something made him turn and the horror of seeing his face for the first time had her fumbling for her weapon with hands that suddenly would not work and starting to breathe too fast in air that was a little too rich in oxygen. Her feet pushed away from the wall, weapon arm finally coming up pointing in his direction, but she was not fast enough. He had crossed that room in less than a second, his speed terrifying, and her reaction time was just a microsecond too slow.

With nails that pierced her upper arm drawing blood immediately, he had her in a vice like grip and pushing his face close to hers, she had felt the dark ebb of unconsciousness pull invitingly along the edges of her mind, and it would have been an easy thing to surrender to it. But a part of her refused, and that part was stronger fortunately,and she fought. With everything she had, using hands and feet to land as many blows as she could and even managing to bring up her weapon and discharge it once.

His gutteral cry indicated that the discharge had found it's mark. This incited his anger still further and he wrapped that impossibly large hand around her throat, backed her up against one of the walls and simply lifted her. With no apparent effort at all.

She felt herself slide upwards, gripped tightly around the throat with little air to control that sudden wheezing that had her fighting for her life. Her legs kicked wildly with what air she had left in her lungs, until she looked deep into those yellow eyes and saw death, and felt all her resolve and all her fight leech out of her in one long steady stream. He was too strong, too powerful and the message in his eyes told her one story. One which there was only one ending.

And with that knowledge came fear, which she could no longer push down.

Those curious yellow eyes travelled up and down her body and he grunted once, then spoke.

"Human! Where are the others? I know that you do not travel alone. Your kind never does."

She couldn't speak. A combination of having her airways cut off and being held in the grip of fear had frozen her vocal chords and she could only look down into his terrible face, her eyes raking the slightly scaly blue tinged skin and stare in fascination at those teeth... teeth that were not designed to eat food in the same manner as she did. His feeding hand had come up and now resting almost softly against the area just above her heart and she knew that he must sense her fear and feel the speed with which her heart was racing.

"Answer me, human." His hand moved from her chest and ran almost caressingly down her clothing. "I know these coverings. I have seen them before. You are from the same place as... the others... I have had here."

She struggled now. Fear overcome up something else. Hope.

Pushing out her voice, it came in a rasping gasp and the effort to both talk and breath proved to be costly.

"My … father... he was here...please..."

Yellow eyes sharpened with curiousity and he tilted his head slightly to one side as though contemplating something. He sniffed, then sighed as though in understanding.

"You have the same smell. Yes... you may be of some use to me yet."

The grip around her throat lessened just a little and she sucked in grateful gulps of air before it could tighten again. His head stilled, and cocked slightly to the side and she noticed that the focus of his eyes had changed. As though he was listening to something inside that only he could hear.

_Telepathy._ The thought rushed into her own mind as she recalled what she had read about this race.

_They communicate using telepathy. The words... they were just for me. More coming? Ah crap..._

He flicked his yellow gaze back to her sharply as though he had somehow picked up on her own thoughts and she saw the anger that suddenly shot into those yellow eyes. With a hiss of rage, he lifted her higher and threw her hard across the room, where she crashed into the large cupboard that ran along the back, that instant painful jarring bringing a cry of pain from her. They her head caught the corner of the cabinet, bringing the welcome blackness hovering once again along the edges of her consciousness.

Surrender or fight? She did not know if she had the strength for either, and as her eyelids fluttered closed, she caught something, a flash and she was able to crawl forward, each movement causing nausea to roll around inside her, until she collapsed on her stomach, arm outstretched. But in her hand she now held something.

Proof that her father had been there.


	13. Chapter 13 To the rescue

CHAPTER 13 – TO THE RESCUE

Lorne arrived back at the stargate in good time. Without the pack to weigh him down, and not having to give consideration to the fact that Jo was not in top condition to complete such a run – he was able to run at a faster pace, arriving breathless and drenched in sweat in that jungle air.

The darts had not come back in his direction and he could hear the distant drone and knew that they concentrated their search... or whatever it was they were doing, past the area where he had left Jo. He had heard back from the other trainees and they were all enroute back to where he had left her and just before he arrived at the gate, he received the news that they were at the meeting point but there was so sign of their newest team member.

And this news had brought him to a temporary standstill. That damn girl had disobeyed his orders again and either come after him, or gone after the darts. He hoped like hell it was the former, because when she caught up with him, he would be sorely tempted to use his hand on her the same way that Sheppard was tempted to. She was a handful, willfully disobedient and would no doubt get herself and others in trouble through blatant disregard for orders. He wondered how she had managed to get to the rank of Major.

He had been about to dial the DHD and attempt communication with Atlantis when he heard the dart overhead. He did not manage to get out of the way soon enough and he knew that it had spotted him. He anticipated the activation of it's tracking beam, but this did not come. Instead it opened fire, a trail of laser firepower along the trail in front of him as it flew low overhead and he yelled in consternation as one of the beams hit the DHD causing it to erupt in a ball of fire.

"Damn it!" Lorne drew up to a halt, dropping off the trail and into the bushes, watching as the remains of the DHD, and their only way home, went up in smoke. Literally.

Thinking as quickly as he could, he mentally calculated that it would be around another hour before Atlantis sent up the alarm that he and his teams were late to check in. Even if Sheppard deployed a rescue jumper immediately, it would be at least another hour after that before help could get here.

And he was stuck on this planet, with a team of relatively new trainees and a willfully disobedient ex Major, who was proving to be more a liability than an asset. Oh, and a small group of wraith who were obviously searching for something.

The day just got better and better.

John had a visual on the gate as he brought the jumper down for a landing, but it was Rodney, in the second seat beside him who was the first to shout a warning.

"Sheppard. Pull up. The DHD... it's been destroyed. Pull up!" The last word came out with something of a screech and John immediately did just that.

He pulled up. He also hit the cloaking shield, as with the screech of Rodney's voice, came the telltale whine of a dart and he knew immediately what had destroyed that DHD down there. It seemed the wraith had come calling and the team below was likely in trouble.

"Sheppard!"

"Seen them Ronon. I'm cloaked. I'm gonna do a flyby over the surface of the planet. See if we can spot them. Try Lorne on the radio."

It was Teyla who fingered her radio. "Major Lorne? This is Teyla. We have arrived in jumper one to offer assistance. Please radio your location."

"Copy that Teyla... and let me tell you... we're kinda glad to have the assistance."

"You're very welcome Major Lorne. Is your team all accounted for?"

There was a silence at the end of the radio and Teyla's eyes immediately shot to John's when she heard the reply.

"Teyla...?" John's voice was a warning growl.

She did not answer John immediately, but responded instead, to Major Lorne. "Copy that Major. I will relay your location to Colonel Sheppard and we will be with you momentarily. The jumper is cloaked. Teyla out."

Again came the warning growl from the Colonel and Teyla momentarily closed her eyes, reopening them quickly to see the jumper was now flying low over heavy jungle foliage.

"Their location is just two clicks from here, John. We are to look for two peaked small mountains, close together. They have grouped at the base of the first one. There is a much larger mountain beyond that and Major Lorne advises that this is the direction he saw the first dart disappear. He has not seen the second dart for some time."

"His team, Teyla? They are all accounted for? He managed to regroup them when he realised they had company."

John's concentration was only partly on flying the craft and heading it in the direction of the two smallish mountains he could see coming up. The rest of his concentration was on Teyla's answer.. or lack thereof.

"I believe one of the team is missing."

He took a deep breath and knew immediately who the missing team member was, but had to bring himself to ask.

"I'm assuming that the missing team member is Jo?" He heard Ronon's groan from the rear seat and Rodney's exasperated grunt from the one next to him.

"I believe you already know the answer to that John." Teyla's voice was quiet, and she had moved toward the front now, hand resting on the seat beside Rodney as she too scanned the terrain, looking for the group that was awaiting their arrival.

"Yes, Teyla – I believe I do... there... I see them. There's a very small clearing just to the left. I'm going to land there. Radio Lorne and advise him. I'm going to keep the jumper cloaked until we know what we're dealing with here."

He set the jumper down and he and his team were liasing with Lorne and his, within minutes. The thunderous look on the Colonel's face had Lorne stepping back a little in consternation.

"Just where the hell did she go Lorne? When I get my hands on her..."

Lorne explained how they had come to be separated from the main group and how he had left her in a secure position until the rest of his team could get back to her, while he had gone to the gate to radio Atlantis. This was a valid scenario and Lorne had watched relieved, as the Colonel's face had cleared slightly.

"So you think she went after the dart? Towards that larger mountain?"

"It's the only place left. We've fanned out and done a complete search of the area in all directions. We had just regrouped when you flew in. The only place left, is near that mountain. There were definitely two darts in the beginning, and now we only have one doing the occasional flyover and I'm assuming that it was this one that took out the DHD. The other has either landed somewhere on the planet or has left. The former seems the more likely."

John agreed with that assessment. "The quickest thing would be to take the jumper, but the terrain is quite densely foliated and unless they are out in the open, there's little clear visual from up there. So we go on the hoof. And heads up people. If there's a wraith out there, there could be more coming. They tend to travel in groups."

They checked their gear and headed off on foot in the direction of the large mountain that rose to a high peak beyond.

Jo drifted in and out of unconsciousness, still clutching the small scrap of evidence in her hand. She had attempted to crawl towards the door in her moments of lucidity, but the pain of her battered body and the head wound was causing waves of dizziness to crash around her with every movement. And at the onset of every movement, the blurred edges of consciousness edged closer until she was swimming in the black again.

The wraith had returned and partially opening one eye she had followed his movements around the room. He grunted periodically and noted that he flickered constant glances down at her. She did not move while he was in the room, scared that she would further provoke him and when he straightened up from the task he was doing, she couldn't resist the hitch in her breath when she saw that he had prepared the table in front of him. And squinting now against the pain in her head, she saw that it was not a table, but a bed of some sort, with leg and arm straps with a small pull out table that contained a variety of sharp and painful looking instruments. Without speaking to her again, he picked up a large, wicked looking needle and checking the level of liquid in it, he turned back to her and his intentions were clear.

But her strength was gone now, and she drifted back into the darkness. She sensed that death would be soon to follow, and if it wasn't, then she would likely wish it was.

As she followed the darkness down, she heard as if from a great distance way, the rattle of weapons fire and heard the sound of running. The nothing as darkness claimed her in it's welcoming arms.


	14. Chapter 14 A clue

CHAPTER 14 – A CLUE

She was dimly aware of hands touching her – gentle hands, and she tried to ease her eyes open, voices becoming a little clearer on the edges of that dark void that she found herself drifting in and out of. The sensation of a hand wiping her face, then lifted and movement as though carried. Sounds tried to come, but she heard a quiet voice.

"Shhhh... don't try to talk. Just lay back. Let us get you home."

She managed briefly to teeter on the brink of consciousness and found she was lying on the floor on the jumper, a blanket over her, and Teyla beside her with a first aid box. Teyla's eyes held some comfort and Jo tried to smile, but the effort was too great, and once again she drifted.

Then lights, bright lights. People touching her and again, she pulled herself out of that void. This time she used her fingernails to grip the edges and threw herself over the top. The same action was mirrored in real time as she pushed herself sharply up off the bed, taking great heaving breaths, as though she had been starved of oxygen for a long time.

"Easy, lass...easy..." The calming voice of Dr Beckett brought her breathing under control and she registered the dark presence in the seat beside her bed. His hand rested near hers on the bed, and flickering her gaze down to where her own lay, still fisted and clutching it's precious cargo.

"Short of pliers... there was no opening that hand..." His dry voice had her gaze skittering back up to his face and she saw no sign of amusement in those hazel eyes.

He pushed himself up off the chair, a towering figure of a man and she felt herself cower away from him, laying back down against the pillows as though she could escape his anger that way.

"Just what the hell do you think you were doing... Do you have any idea how much crap you are in right now...hmmm? It'll take more than a shovel to work your way out of this one."

"Colonel..." The doctor's voice held a steely thread of warning that had John sitting back down in his chair, running a hand through hair that already stood out in unruly tufts on his head. He had told himself he would not resort to yelling at her, but the moment she had opened those silver eyes and her body had almost jackknifed off the bed, that anger had come surging back and he struggled to control that primal urge.

She didn't respond at first, just looked at him, then slowly she opened that tightly fisted hand, the one he had been staring at while she had been unconscious.

In the palm of her hand lay a set of wings and John recognised the insignia immediately. The colonel's bird, found as a pair on all full bird colonel uniforms.

"He's alive John... here is your proof. He's alive."

Her voice faded again, but there was a small smile on her face, and gently he took the insignia from her hand, turning it over and over.

"Your father's? You're sure?" Sharp eyes kept her from teetering over that edge again.

"I spent a lot of time touching that on his uniform. Before he went off on those... missions. The ones that he told me nothing about. So yeah... I'm sure."

"Did you see any other sign of him in that facility? Anything at all? When we got to you, there was only the wraith... no one else. No sign of any humans... at least none that were alive."

Despair laced her voice now. "Signs, John? Damn it – you ask me if I saw signs? They were experimenting on humans, John. Your signs, your evidence... it was all there. In black and white, 1930's horror movie stuff. Frankenstein... you know who I kept expecting to walk out of that lab – Dr Jekyll? Hell, that wraith... he might just as well have been the same sort of monster. What did I see? Organs, instruments... For some poor human..." Despair gave way to anger and those molten eyes spiked him with their intensity and he found he couldn't draw himself away from them. She had pushed herself upright, anger warring with something else, something he knew she didn't want to acknowledge.

Fear.

Hands gentle on her shoulders now, he pushed down his own anger. It had no place here in this room, not when she had been through so much already.

She had dropped her eyes for a moment, now she dragged them sharply back to his, her voice a whisper now, as anger fled. Leaving only the remains of those emotions. Remnants.

"My father...? What did they want with him? The wraith...not in our galaxy..."

Her voice had drifted again and carefully he eased himself down beside her on the bed, placing a hand on her cheek and stroking gently.

"We'll keep looking. If he's out here in this galaxy somewhere, still alive... we'll find him. But you need to rest. Carson's sending me more nasty looks and if I don't get out of here and leave you alone, I think he'll likely poke something long, sharp and nasty into me."

He got up to leave and she reached for his hand, holding it just a little too tightly, causing something to clench deep in his stomach. He could not tell her what he had felt when he had come running into that room and seen her lying there on that ground. Blood, gushing from a head wound, the mark of the wraith around her neck. He could barely acknowledge to himself what he had felt. Anger, terror... and a whole lot more than he was willing to admit to. His protective instincts had come out, no doubt about it. But he'd be lying to himself if he didn't at least admit that there was something a whole lot more.

And he didn't have a clue what he was going to do about that.


	15. Chapter 15 A small time to heal

CHAPTER 15 – A SMALL TIME TO HEAL

John sat in Sam's office late that night. He had filled her in on what they had found on that planet, and Lorne had joined them about a half hour ago. He had just learnt the whole story behind Jo's arrival in Atlantis and had been shocked at her reasons for being here.

"So that whole... attitude thing? An act?" He seemed incredulous. He had suspected that she was hiding something, but nothing of that magnitude.

John's response was dry. "Maybe not all an act... she's definitely more than a little dangerous."

"To herself, or to others?" Lorne's comeback was just as dry and just as quick and Sam had smiled. It seemed that the young charge of Jack O'Neill's had managed to get under the skin of both senior officers. In one form or another.

"That would be the question, Lorne. It looks like we have an answer as to the sort of ship that was in the vicinity of the pilots before they disappeared. And if the wraith had found their way to earth, there begs the question. Why didn't they do more than just drop in? Turning down a whole smorgasbord like that? Not in their nature. They swing in for a casual visit, nab a couple of pilots and ships and open a hyperspace window and hightail it back to Pegasus. What the hell is their agenda? And now we find evidence that said pilots have likely been held for medical experimentation of some sort. I think it's time we brought General O'Neill 'officially' into the loop. if he knows more than what he set out in that email - IF he sent the email... then we need that information."

"He's deliberately kept himself out of the equation for a reason John. Which could mean that someone close to him is involved. He wants it worked from here... without any involvement with the SGC. We need to respect that and if he wants the rules to change? I suspect he'll let us know. Gentlemen... it's late. Time to shut down the city for the night."

John and Lorne rose from their seats and went to leave her office and Sam stopped them briefly.

"John, Evan? Take a team back to the planet tomorrow and do a thorough search of that facility. If the Colonel and his fellow pilot were held there, I want to find out where they were taken after that. Whether they are still alive. There may be something that was left behind, apart from the little souviner that Jo found."

"And what they were being tested for?" John's voice held query.

"Therein lies another mystery. It can't be the ATA gene – not required for flying the F302's and I don't have the Colonel's file to find out whether he even had it. Perhaps they just wanted access to military knowledge...we know via the email that Jo received, that he had been working on some pretty serious modifications, top secret and in all likelihood there was a lot going down that we will never be able to gain access to the files for."

"Which would ultimately give someone or some group a pretty decisive bargaining chip – along with the modified ships."

"Exactly John. It seems we have inadvertently stumbled into something that has the distinct smell of conspiracy. Something that could stick to our boots if we don't take a shovel and clean it up now."

John grimaced, indicating to Lorne that he could go on. He was going to pay a little visit to the infirmary before bed, but he turned his head back to Sam.

"This could take a stronger cleaner than what we have... access to."

John saw the steely glint in Sam's eye.

"Consider yourself with an all access pass. Colonel."

Lorne had waited for him in the hallway and he quirked an eyebrow at the Colonel. "Going to the infirmary, sir? Mind if I tag along... have a rather annoying need to make sure that my newest recruit is not sporting too much in the way of permanent damage."

"Sure that's the only reason, Lorne?" He watched as the junior officer coloured a little, enjoying making him squirm.

"That's one bundle of woman that I have no desire to take on... sir."

"That's good then, Lorne. I'd hate to have to lay down an old fashioned challenge." There was a hint of humour in the Colonel's voice, but Lorne read something else as well, and his eyes flicked quickly to John's.

"If that's the way it rolls... then by all means, sir. She's all yours."

"Somehow I don't get the feeling that I've won the prize..."

Lorne gave a short bark of laughter and his eyes crinkled a little at the corners.

A scream pierced the hallway then, interupting the light banter between the two men, and rounding the hallway John gave Lorne a sharp look and both men ran towards the infirmary, knowing instinctively that the scream had come from there. They found Carson barely restraining a nearly hysterical woman. She had pushed up out of the bed and her hair was wild about her face and against the paleness of her neck, the already vivid bruising that the wraith had left behind was standing out in stark relief.

John reached the bed first and asked no questions. Reaching for her shoulders, he held firm, feeling the doctor slide away gratefully and move towards a small table. Gripping those shoulders tightly, he felt the rigid muscles and could sense the convulsions as she tried to pull herself out of a nightmare that she was no doubt trapped in. Those silver eyes were wide and staring, terrified and looked right through him and she possesed an extraordinary strength that had her breaking free of his restraint and lurching out of the bed, sheet trailing behind her.

"Colonel.. damn it. Stop her before she hurts herself. Hold her steady so that I can get a shot into her."

Carson finished preparing the hypodermic and Lorne hovered uncertainly, wanting to help but afraid of inciting the nightmare further if more hands started reaching for her. He could see by her wide staring eyes, that she was not in this room right now and had no idea of the hands that tried to restrain her, imagining them to be another,more horrifying set of hands and he could not take his own eyes from the hand prints around her neck.

"Jesus, Jo... wake up. It's me... you're safe now. Nothing can hurt you." He had managed to get behind her and had simply banded a firm arm around her stomach and pulled her back against him tightly, keeping a firm hold as she fought and hit out at him. Narrowly avoiding an elbow that aimed for his chin, he shot a glance at Carson, who was just flicking the drop off the end of the needle.

"Hurry Carson, before I'm the one needing stitches..."

"Coming lad... hold on to her."

John locked his arm more tightly around her but before Carson could pull down the elastic of her pyjamas to clear some area on her thigh for the needle, she had slumped suddenly and turning her in his arms, John had felt her arms creep around his neck and feel her shuddering breaths as she suddenly realised where she was and who was holding her.

"Ok...that's better. You're all good..." He murmured senseless words to her, dropping his head down so that his own face was pushed into her hair and shook his head slightly at the doctor, indicating that she would be ok without the shot.

He felt the tremors that racked her body as she started to sob and he simply tightened his grip on her and eased her back toward the bed, noting that Lorne was edging discreetly out the room.

"I need to give her this, Colonel. She needs the rest and she won't get that if she's plagued by nightmares everytime she shuts her eyes. And she can't be hanging on to you all night."

"Yeah... she can, doc. I'll take the wet shirt...if you don't mind me messing up your infirmary."

He had swung her up onto the bed and with her arms firmly attached around his neck, he was not left with a lot of choice. He slid along side her and felt her snuggle up a little too close for comfort, but giving his shoulders a mental shrug, he looped his own arms around her, feeling at last the calming breaths she was finally taking.

Carson looked down at the pair with raised eyebrows. "A little bit of magic eh, Colonel?"

"Whatever works, doc. I just want the lady to get some sleep... and maybe the rest us will too..."

And Carson watched in amazement as the Colonel simply shut his own eyes and noting the immediate relaxing of his tight features, realised that John had done just that.

Simply fallen asleep.


	16. Chapter 16 A calming touch

CHAPTER 16 – A CALMING TOUCH

The weight of a warm body woke him and he felt the need to stretch. A little disorientated, he opened his eyes and looked down to find a large silver pair of eyes regarding him with amusement.

"Sharing one's bed with a senior officer...hmmm... frowned upon, I should imagine."

It took a moment for him to clear his thoughts. In bed. With Jo.

And his mind instantly sharpened as the events of the previous day came flooding into his mind with clarity.

"Don't worry Colonel Sheppard... it appears your virtue is still intact... for now." She muffled her quiet laughter, burying her face against his tshirt and it was natural for him to tighten his hold on her, feeling that soft warm body pressed so enticingly against his.

"Brat..." He growled this softly in her ear, and her response was to press a little closer.

"Careful with the insults Colonel. It would appear that I hold all the cards at the moment." And he realised with a shock that this was true when she inserted her leg between his own and he had to resist the groan that sprung to his lips.

"It seems you have made a rather... amazing recovery." Carson had come into the infirmary and now stood near the bed, watching the pair. He had popped in from time to time throughout the night and noted the easy way they had both slept, tightly wound around each other. A connection made between two like souls in a heartbeat. A fanciful notion perhaps, but one his grandmother had always attributed to, and looking down at the two of them, these words had come to mind.

She had ducked away from Carson's knowing eyes, feeling a little exposed and her reply was a little mumbled, face still pressed into John's chest.

"It would appear so, doc. Must be all the good sea air we have around here." John was not so shy and smiled, then yawned loudly. "And nothing like a warm willing body to cosy up to at night."

Carson failed to hide a smile as someone's private area was clamped rather brutally and John groaned aloud as the room suddenly filled with people. Ronon wandered in holding coffee and laughter in his eyes. Teyla was right behind and John looked expectantly at the door and was not disappointed. Stuffing his mouth with the last of his toast, Rodney was not far behind.

The gang was all there.

"What?" Five pair of eyes fixed on the newest arrival as Rodney's cheeks bulged ominously.

Shaking his head, John carefully extricated himself from his bed partner and rolled out of bed. He needed to make some attempt to regain his authority. Lying in bed with a pretty girl draped around him went a long way to making him feel good, but gave his team more than just a little fuel for the 'jokes on Sheppard' mill. He sat cautiously on the edge of the bed, noting that Jo moved into the centre, facing them and saw all eyes drawn to the marks around her neck.

Wraith markings.

They had been under cover of darkness while he held her, but now? They stood out starkly against the pale skin and the white of the sheets and brought home the realisation that it had been a close call indeed.

"What's the plan, Sheppard? We gonna get us some wraith? I'd say yesterday screams for payback." Ronon watched John over the top of his coffee and was not disappointed by the flare of anger that shot into his commanding officer's eyes. While not strictly military, at least earth military, Ronon had held the rank of Specialist in his own military on Sateda and had accepted John as his commanding officer when he had joined his team.

"We will Ronon, that's a given. But first.. we need to head back to Lorne's training grounds and go through that facility with a fine tooth comb. We need to find anything that ties Barlow to that facility and we need to look for some tiny shred of evidence that will let us track him to where he's been taken. We think they're after the information that Barlow has. We know their ships don't have our cloaking and shielding technology, nor do they have suitable long range hyperdrive capabilities. Barlow had been working on some modifications. Whoever knew about these modifications could have offered him up as part of a deal. They've tried to pull our ancient cloaking and shield technology before but without the gene? The technology simply does not make sense and cannot be reverse engineered."

"Excuse me...?" Indignant silver eyes flared slightly. "Cannot be reversed engineered? Don't ever say the word 'can't' in relation to mechanics around me. I'll take that challenge and raise you... got that? You want something pulled apart and put back together ANY way, I'm your guy!"

She had sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, swinging them slightly as though testing whether they would be likely to support her.

Ronon grinned, give her tight tank top a frank stare where her breasts were more than sufficiently outlined. "Can't see any of that male stuff in you... just sayin'"

"Metaphorically speaking... Ronon."

"Meta... what?"

Those swinging legs connected with his stomach, which was positioned a little close, and the air rushed out of his stomach as he doubled over. Pulling himself back up when he was able to get a breath, he glared at her, receiving a similar glare right back, and John placed a hand on her knee, trying to hide the laughter.

"Damn woman. If you were a guy... You'd be running out of here so fast!"

And John had to physically slide down off the bed and stand between them like a referee as one feisty small female launched herself straight off the bed at the big Satedan.

"Sheppard - control her, or I will. Damn it. Keep her away from me."

Turning to face her, putting his back to Ronon, John did just that. Giving her a look that would have curdled milk he waited until he had her full attention and pointed at the bed. She appeared about to protest, reaching around him to see whether she could have clear access to Ronon who was glaring at her in a menacing way, and John simply slid his hands to her waist and squeezed gently, effectively taking all the air out of her sails. For now, anyway.

"OK, so now that the floor show is over, when do we leave Sheppard." Rodney was impatient,anxious to get going and was feeling just a little wary at the dark look on Ronon's face. The little lady had more guts than most people he knew and Rodney knew that he would never had attempted to incite Ronon's temper like that.

But that was nothing to the look that suddenly appeared on the Colonel's face when Jo Barlow announced to he room that she was coming with them.

Rodney knew that it was definitely time to leave.


	17. Chapter 17 Groundwork

CHAPTER 17 – GROUNDWORK

She had argued, she had cajoled, she had sulked. Carson had stepped in before things got too far out of hand and simply put his foot down. In that quiet way he had.

"You will stay in that bed today lass, and I will not tolerate any arguments. I will not clear you medically. You have a head injury that needs at least 24 hours of monitoring and Colonel Sheppard does not need to be worrying about you doing something irresponsible. If you do not listen to my advice, I will simply give you something to knock you out. For a long time. We can play this two ways. Either way? I come out the winner."

John had watched with some amusement as the wind had literally dropped out of those rather fiesty sails and she had simply... deflated. She slumped back in the bed, dejection written across her face and he'd touched her cheek lightly and unable to resist, dropped a hard kiss onto her surprised mouth.

Large silver eyes quirked up at him. "What was that for, Colonel?"

"Call it a downpayment..."

"On what, exactly?" Curiousity spiked and she made to push herself back to a sitting position, but with hands at her shoulders, he pushed her back down.

"Some unfinished business that you and I need to take care of. When you're better."

"Oh..."

"Finally... I managed to shut you up. If I'd known that was all it would take, would have done it sooner!"

And he laughed, as the pillow she tossed at him hit his retreating back. He'd made the decision through that night, with her soft body pressed against his. If he was going to let himself slip down into that gutter, then yeah... he'd drag her down there with him. And he'd make damn sure that she came willingly.

They had not taken the time to fix the DHD the previous day, therefore they were required to rely on travel by jumper. Rodney had brought an assortment of crystals and would repair the DHD before they left, however it seemed that Lorne may well have to find another planet with which to train his recruits on. Knowing that wraith had open access to this planet for laboratory purposes no longer made this an ideal training scenario, unless one wanted to include hand to hand combat with the wraith.

Which, in the Colonel's view, was not necessarily a bad thing.

John had done a flyover of the planet, checking for obvious wraith activity, but had found none. That did not mean that there weren't darts on the ground, but given the state of the lab that they had only briefly looked at yesterday, it did not appear that it was used frequently and was likely a secret area that had been set up for certain 'guests' that they wanted to keep secret from the rest of their hive.

And it was these reasons that John was particularly interested in. Whichever faction of the wraith had taken Barlow and the other pilot, it seemed that whatever they were working on was not a communal effort, so to speak. Hive ships had perfectly adequate laboratory facilities on board, and as such they should not require some hidden lab on a non populated planet unless someone wanted it kept very secret.

That left a secret group of wraith with a hidden agenda. A combination that most definitely did not sit well with the Colonel.

John touched the jumper down near the gate and left Rodney and Teyla there so that Rodney could attempt to repair the DHD, then he flew the jumper taking Ronon and himself, back to the small clearing in front of the lab entrance. They would investigate the lab facility more fully.

The dead wraith from the previous day was gone.

_So, _thought John. _Not so dead afterall... the dart he used is also gone. Two scenarios here then. He did the whole come back to life thing... as they do... and escaped, taking with him the knowledge that his lab has been compromised. Likely means he won't be back. Or? Someone came back for him, removed his body and flew his dart. And that still gives them the heads up that the lab has been compromised. The question is... would they know by who? These wraith did not appear to know us, and face it Sheppard... we have our own bad ass rep out here in the galaxy, and some of those wraith we run into seem to know exactly who we are. So just what the hell are we dealing with here?_

His musings followed him as he and Ronon moved through the tunnels and checked all the rooms. They removed some of the containers with the various organs and transported them back to the jumper. John intended to get them back to Atlantis and have Carson and his team do some testing on them. They did look human, and he wanted confirmation of that and with some DNA testing, perhaps they could learn what particular humans they were from. Earth humans or those from this galaxy.

"I've found nothing, Sheppard. I'm pretty sure that when we were here yesterday, that room we found Jo? There was files and other things there. We were in such a hurry to leave that we didn't take anything then, and maybe we should have."

"They've been back? Yeah... I think they have. Which means we lost our shot. I doubt they'll be back again. Whatever it is they were doing out here, they want it kept on the down low. Damn... one step behind them might as well be a light year. If they're operating out of the loop of their hive ship, then tracking them to the nearest hive ship is probably useless. They'll have found another planet, or have a back up lab somewhere else."

They were just heading out of the tunnel when they heard Rodney's voice over his radio.

"Uh... Colonel Sheppard. Teyla and I would most appreciate your assistance here. At the gate."

Something in his voice spiked apprehension through John and he immediately drew his weapon, noting that Ronon did the same beside him.

"Rodney? You ok?"

He was moving and cleared the entrance to the tunnel, blinking out into the light, Ronon right beside him. He did not notice that Rodney's reply did not come immediately.

He did not have time.

Simultaneous stun blasts were fired and John knew one last moment of clarity before darkness dragged him into it's spiralling arms.


	18. Chapter 18 A soldier inside

CHAPTER 18 – THE SOLDIER INSIDE

Jo had welcomed the rest as had her body, although she would not have admitted that to anyone else. An expected guest had arrived with a chess board. Radek Zalenka, one of Rodney's peers, for want of a better word, and reputedly, one of the top chess players in the city.

She had rubbed her hands in glee. Bored already, that keen mind needing something to get her teeth into, she had worked her way through several manuals and scrolled through Rodney's thorough notes on the components and recorded findings of various technology that they had secured in Atlantis from various worlds. And Radek arrived bearing gifts. Hell, the best gift of all right now.

A chess board.

Two hours later and Radek was muttering to himself in his native tongue. She was a formidable chess player and she was only moves away from taking his king.

"Checkmate, Radek. You're going down..."

He threw his hands up. "Unbelievable. How did you do that? You had moves I have never seen before. I insist on a rematch."

"Maybe later Radek, and thank you. For the distraction and the company. But I need to move a round a little, and I'm going to sneak out of here for a few minutes while Carson is off shift. Just a little stroll around the hallways. Stretch out my legs."

Experimentally she rolled out of bed and tested her legs on the floor. All good and she smiled. She came from tough stock and would not go down without a good fight.

"You sure that is such a good idea? Perhaps you should not be getting out of bed yet..." Radek looked at her in consternation as she did a couple of light knee bends and reached for a shirt that someone had thoughtfully left folded on the bedside by the bed.

"Just a little walk Radek... I'll be fine. Perhaps you could accompany me, if that would make you feel better."

She smiled at him. Her was inherently shy and his head ducked often when she addressed him and looked him directly in the eye. Reaching for his arm now, he gallantly offered an elbow and she wrapped her hands around it, earning a blush from him and another duck of his head.

They strolled down the hallway and Jo gently steered them in the direction of the control room. She did have a plan of sorts, one that she was not going to divulge to Radek. John and his team had been gone a long time and she had received no word as to the result of their mission. This was making her antsy and she wanted to be a little closer to the action, so to speak.

And as far as she was concerned, if it wasn't on the planet with the team... then it was in the control room, where at least they had access to radio contact with the jumper. She had tried to push down a trickle of unease that had started to creep up inside her and needed reassurance that they were ok.

Afterall, she was the reason they had gone back there.

She faltered when they neared the gate room. Through the large glass windows she could see that Sam was in there, and in discussion with the gate technician. Unsure for a moment what to do, she heard her name called, and turning, found Major Lorne coming towards her, a puzzled look on his face as he looked from her to Radek.

"You sure you should be out of bed? That wraith made a mess of you yesterday. You may think you're tough Jo, but I've seen stronger men take on an attack from a wraith like that, and it aint no picnic, and your body needs a little time to heal."

"I tried to tell her Major, but it is like talking to a brick wall." Radek released her arm and gave it a little pat. "I have work to do Miss Barlow... so we shall try for that rematch soon... hmmm?"

"Thank you Radek. Major? What's going down in the control room. I'm getting this not so good feeling. Can you come with me? If you're with me, they'll be less likely to kick me out. Official business... Major, please?"

She had widened those incredible eyes of hers and Lorne just rolled his.

"I am not taking the flack for your lack of self preservation and disregard of orders. Seriously, Jo. Go back to bed. Now. If Sheppard was here... well, we might not go there."

"Let's not, Major. But... I'm going up there, with or without you."

She walked up the stairs and Lorne saw from the set of her back that she was holding herself tightly together and gave her full points for sheer guts. She would not go down without a fight, in any situation and the thought crossed his mind that regardless of her lack of respect for senior officers, she would be one soldier that he would be happy to have his back in combat. She had balls, figuratively speaking of course, and in spades.

"Colonel Carter... before you start yelling at me about lack of respect, not listening to orders and … whatever other digression I happen to be performing at the moment... could you please just tell me that you have heard back from John and his team. Put this somewhat worried mind at rest. Please."

Sam had been about to take a deep breath and do just that. But the pleading look in her eyes had her backing down, just a little.

"Ok Jo... fair enough. Major? I called you in because we have a problem. John and his team have not reported in and I can't get through to the jumper by radio. No one is picking up at that end. Rodney does not appear to have fixed the DHD, we've tried dialling, and nothing. So, I have to go out on a limb here and assume that something has happened to them. Major... put together two teams, we're not going into this lightly."

"Yes, ma'am." Lorne was about to leave, but he slanted a look in Jo's direction first. He had felt her start to tense when Sam first spoke, and he saw immediately the tension that now set worried lines on her face. But the resolve that shot into those eyes had him backing up a figurative step. She'd not back down, he could see that and he knew without a doubt that Jo would find a way to be on that jumper with him.

Without a doubt.

Of course there was never any doubt, and ten minutes later Jo and Lorne met his team and another, in the jumper bay. They would take one jumper, so it was a tight fit and Jo had put together a selection of tools and taken some replacement crystals to add to her kit bag. One of her first tasks would be to fix the DHD. It was likely that the wraith had used it previously to bring the darts through, and it was even more likely that the data from their point of origin would be stored in the DHD memory crystals and she had told Lorne that this would be a starting point to begin their search.

His respect for her went up several more notches. In his mind she had taken back her rank as Major and as far as he was concerned, she was an equal in this team, not a trainee, nor a junior officer – and he resolved to treat her as such. She was proving beyond a doubt that she had clear strengths and he intended to utilise them.

Sheppard and his team would need all the help they could get.


	19. Chapter 19 To hell and back

CHAPTER 19 – TO HELL AND BACK

Lorne set the jumper down near the gate after doing a thorough flyover to make sure there was no wraith activity. They had found Sheppard's jumper and had touched down beside it and after doing a brief search of the area, both inside the tunnels and out, he had left both teams there to continue searching, while he took Jo back to the gate to get working on the DHD. Trying the radio several times had given them nothing. There was no response from either Sheppard or his team and it had become a logical assumption that they had run into difficulties and unless the ensuing search turned up anything, and Lorne was doubtful that it would, it was becoming obvious that they had been caught off guard and taken offworld.

Which made Lorne's job just that much harder.

Jo took her tools and a selection of crystals and settled herself down beside the DHD. Rodney had been here, she could see that. Pieces of the DHD were strewn around the area and there were several food wrapper bars on the ground, indicating that the scientist had gotten hungry and indulged that hunger.

"How much progress did he make, Jo? You sure you know how one of these ones works? How long will it take to finish the job?"

"Dammit, Major... will you just chill. You're making me nervous. In answer to your question, your first one anyway... He's managed to dismantle it, and was in the stage of running the crystal configurations through his computer programme. I can pick up where he left off. And yes to question number two. I can fix anything – pretty sure I already told you that... and no, it's not arrogance. I'm good at what I do and don't see the need to pretend otherwise. This is just a machine, for all intents and purposes. Ok, so a finely tuned, extra terrestrial machine... but hey? It's got parts, it has a mechanism... and that gives me the knowledge that sooner or later? I'll work out how to fix it. Question three – the longer you have me answering these damn questions, the longer it'll take...got it?"

Exasperated, she flicked him a glance of molten steel and he took a step back, wondering if there was any humour in her answer. He doubted it. She was in her element now, and this is what she did. So he gave her some space, and stood back a little as she muttered to herself, compared crystals and used a little soldering iron to piece together tiny fragments that seemed impossibily small.

There was a small explosion and then one of the gate chevrons lit up ominously. Lorne's eyes flicked quickly to Jo's.

"Aahh Jo... tell me you did that..."

"No can do, Major. Wasn't me... something's trying to dial in."

"Atlantis?"

"If they are... I will have to have a word to the gate technician about patience.." She grumbled this last, and returned to her crystals, refitting and replacing a final one before giving it a satisfactory pat.

"Ok..."

She didn't get to finish. The chevrons began lighting up and this time with the final crystal in place, the dialling sequence was able to continue and Jo leapt to her feet, inadvertedly running into the solid form of Major Lorne. He reached out a hand to steady her, and she had her weapon in hand, stepping away from him.

He indicated with a movement of his head that they should take cover until they knew what was coming through the gate, and doing so immediately, they crouched in the bushes as he quickly radioed the rest of the teams and warned them that they could possibly have incoming,

"Cloak that jumper. Copy that?"

He did not wait until he had confirmation, but quickly proceeded to their own jumper and entering the control area, activated the cloaking. He then returned to the sheltered area flanking the gate, watching as the event horizon settled, and with an eruption of sound as a dart came through.

"Jesus... Major." Jo had her weapon up and was tracking the dart, but it quickly left the area and headed off to the north west. Where the other teams had been searching.

"Not quite, Jo... but I'll have to do for now." He activated his radio again. "Evans? You copy? Incoming. One dart and possibly more to follow. Get your men under cover until we can get to you. We'll pick you up in the jumper when it is safe to do so. If we are... unable... to come and get you – you have your orders. Take the jumper back to Atlantis."

He did not get to finish. Jo had broken cover and was running to the gate and had dropped down onto the ground beside the DHD. She immediately connected to the hand held computer she had and attempted to lock on the gate address where the dart had come from.

"Bingo!" The glance she shot Lorne's way was triumphant.

"Jo, get the hell out of there – now! Another dart may be coming through or the one we just saw may return."

"Just a moment... Major. Just locking on now... we're good. Let's go."

"Go... and hey, isn't that my line? Why do I suddenly feel like I'm the damn junior officer around here..." He grumbled this and not waiting for her to answer, activated his radio.

"Lorne here. Jo's managed to lock onto the address of the originating gate. We're going to take the jumpers in, cloaked. Rendevous with her here at the gate. We're not waiting to see what the wraith ship does. The Colonel and his team aren't here, so we need to track the movements of the wraith and hope that all paths lead to our missing team. Copy that?"

Jo was already at the jumper and impatiently in the second seat when Lorne moved to take his place in the first seat.

"Let's go already." She was all but jiggling up and down, impatient now to be going.

"Calm yourself Jo. You need to bring down that energy level just a notch or we're gonna go into this rescue on the left foot. Focus."

"I am focused. See. Eyes staring straight ahead... now, can we dial yet."

He suppressed a chuckle and knew that he was not going to win this argument with her. He did however, give the order to dial the gate address that she had inputted into her system as soon as he had confirmation that the other cloaked jumper was right above them.

Lorne focused his attention on watching the gate activate and sent a mental prayer up to anyone who would listen. They were taking a shot into the unknown here. Jo had attempted to feed the planet co-ordinates into her data bank but it had come up with no information. So either they were taking more than just a huge leap of faith, and would be left with more than the proverbial egg on their faces, or someone had taken the time to erase all details of this planet from the data base.

And Lorne was trying to think which the worst case scenario would be.


	20. Chapter 20 A leap of faith

CHAPTER 20 – A LEAP OF FAITH

He shut his eyes as he eased the jumper into the event horizon and let the natural motion of the wormhole accelerate them to warp speed and spit them out the other side. Both jumpers erupted into the air above the gate on this unknown planet and Jo was immediately leaning towards the large viewing window as they hovered over the gate, trying to give Lorne some indication of which way to start searching.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find something out of the ordinary here... there's very little cover. Nothing like the last planet they decided to hide their lab on. Would be safe to assume they don't require a specific level of oxygen... I thought with the richer oxygen levels on the other planet, perhaps that was a requirement for whatever it is they were doing."

Remaining cloaked, both jumpers skimmed the planet surface, following the lines of rivers, and the almost desert terrain. There were small pockets of forest and very little greenery otherwise, and taking a particularly low pass over a wide river, Jo almost leapt out of her seat. She reached out and gripped Lorne's arm hard, and he almost lost control of the jumper.

"Jesus, Jo. What the hell?" He peered out through the front window, trying to see what she had spotted.

"Look... on the ground to the southwest. What the hell is that? Two ships. Not wraith darts, either."

Lorne followed the finger she aimed in that direction and his sharp intake of breath had Jo looking at him quickly.

"What is it, Major?"

"F302's. Earth ships. The one's your father was flying before he disappeared. Looks like pay dirt Jo. Looks like we're found where they were taken. Or at least, where the ships were taken."

He quickly acknowledged the other jumper who had also located the F302's, then radioed Atlantis with the news.

Sam was cautiously excited. "You're sure, Major? Be very careful going in. It could be a trap. Why would they leave the ships out there in the open. And is there any sign of the Colonel and his team? Or the missing pilots?"

"Give us some time, Colonel. I need to put together a plan so that we go in covered. You could be right, it may be a trap of some sort. I can't see any buildings yet, or other structures that would indicate that any sort of laboratory is here. But something is here. The darts came from this planet and in the absence of any human life on this planet, it begs the argument that they can only be using this planet for one thing."

"Copy that Major. I'm thinking that we are going to need some help on this stateside. We are going to have to bring the General in sooner or later. Unless I can find another way to go in the backdoor and find someone who'll help us get access to classified communications. That wraith ship that was in the milky way... someone was in contact with it. I've been giving it a lot of thought. Go and see if our missing teams are there, but keep me posted every step of the way. This mission is developing a rather rancid stench."

Lorne liased with the other jumper. They were going to remain cloaked and set the jumpers down as close to the F302's as they could. There was a small forested area a half click away from the ships and it was important that they had some form of cover.

Jo was impatient and Lorne could barely restrain her from leaping out of her seat as soon as the jumper touched down and moving immediately to the rear door, waiting for it to lower.

"You're not gonna go in there all hot and guns blazing. This is my call, and you'll take your lead from me. Got that?"

She huffed an impatient breath and Lorne shook his head. He may as well have been talking to a brick wall. She would always have her own agenda and was coming to the rapid conclusion that the airforce was likely a far safer place without her in it. He needed to reinforce his order though. It wasn't just her life at stake this time. They had two teams going in, as well as the missing one of Sheppard's. Grabbing her arm he held her back, waiting until she looked him in the eye.

"I mean it Jo. I want your word that you'll run this my way. No heroism, no going off half cocked. I need to focus on getting Sheppard and his team out of there, not on you turning renegade on me."

She looked down at his hand gripping her arm and took a breath. He was right, she knew that, acknowledged it – but knew that in the heat of the moment it would all go out the window and she would do what her instincts told her. That whole bad ass routine that got her out of the airforce the hard way... was a double edged sword. The airforce was what her father had wanted, not her. She didn't deal well with the constantly being under the thumb of a superior officer, and while she gave it her best shot for five years, it was a relief to step back and have them take the decision away from her.

"I'm good Major. Let's do this."

He read the edge in her voice and sighed and knew he fought a losing battle.

They liased with the other crew and made their way cautiously towards where they had seen the F302's. They had seen no sign of wraith, but knew that they could return at any minute. Jo broke cover and ran for the ships, blocking Lorne's voice as he called her back and hearing his pounding footsteps behind her as he followed, not about to leave her in the open without backup.

He just shook his head when he reached her. The ships were empty. He was able to see that immediately, and after activating the controls he could see that the ships were still operational and knew one of two things. The wraith had not been able to operate the ships indicating that the pilots had not been co-operative in offering their assistance.

Which could also mean that they had outlived their usefulness and were no longer alive. Lorne fervently hoped that this was not the case.

A shout from one of the other men had him jogging over to an disturbed area in the dark sand. The marine had moved some of the sand away, and uncovered was a large trapdoor.

Pay dirt.

Lorne nodded at the group that now surrounded the door. It was Lorne who squatted down and cautiously opened it while his team fanned out around the open portal, weapons drawn and pointed down in the dark interior.

He used hand signals from that point. They had no idea who or what was down there, and voices would certainly echo in the tunnels and they still needed the element of surprise. For whatever waited down there.

One by one they cautiously climbed down the makeshift ladder that led down to the dark tunnel below. There was no lighting down here, indicating that it was not a facility used often. Activating the lights on their P90's, the filed down the tunnel, weapons pointing both upwards towards the ceiling and along the length of the tunnel, ears and eyes open for anything that moved or made a sound of any sort.

A sudden crashing noise had them running. It had come from one end of the long tunnel and as they ran towards it, they heard the faint noise of something overhead, something from outside the tunnel on the surface of the planet.

The sound of a wraith dart.

Knowing they would have company soon, Lorne moved the group ahead faster. There was only one room, and the door to it was shut and still using hand signals, he indicated to the team that they were to take up defensive positions around the door, weapons drawn.

Jo was to his immediate right, and waiting for Lorne's nod she got ready to move and with a sharp sudden movement he kicked the door open, allowing those around the door to move in immediately, weapons up and fingers resting tense on the triggers.

"Jo... wait" Lorne's voice was an urgent whisper,but he did not stop the headlong flight of the rebellious woman. She had seen something before he had. One woman and three men tied together near the back corner of the room, all blinking a little dazedly in the light from the P90's.

One of them a very pissed off Colonel.


	21. Chapter 21 Who's playing who?

CHAPTER 21 – WHO'S PLAYING WHO?

Jo didn't say much. Nerves had kept her quiet and she felt John's sharp gaze on her as she moved quickly behind him and pulling out a knife, cut through the bindings that secured his hands, moving on quickly to do the same to Ronon, Rodney and Teyla.

"Lorne? While I'm grateful for the rescue, just what the hell is Jo doing here, considering the fact that when I left she was under strict instructions... no, make that, orders – to stay in bed."

Jo dropped her eyes, then with resolution, raised them again to meet his defiantly.

"Just be damned grateful that I did come. Did you find him, John? Is he here?" Her eyes were darting around the room with something close to panic, and he pushed down his anger. A little.

"He's not here, Jo. We'd know by now if he was. How the hell did you guys find us?"

Lorne's answer was dry and he shot an exasperated glance at his disobedient second in command. As he had come to think of her.

"Magic hands here fixed the DHD and managed to track the gate address that was last dialled. Oh, and the fact that we had incoming as soon as we got to the planet. Heads up while we're at the lay the cards on the table stage... we've got dart company on the surface as well. Heard them just as we started down the tunnel."

"Looks like we'd better get the hell out of dodge." John had pushed himself to his feet, and waited a few moments until the others had begun to leave the room.

"Jo? He's not here..."

"Damn it John – you think I don't know that? But his damn ship is... he was in that ship, when he just disappeared. I sat in it, just for a moment, and I felt him. God... I felt him, his presence. Our connection was strong and felt the message he was trying to send me. He's alive, I think. He's been through a lot, but I think he's alive."

And suddenly the tension of the past few hours came crashing down on her and she turned a miserable face up to John, and it was an entirely natural action to loop a hand around the back of her neck, pull her closer and drop his face into her hair. To simply breathe in her scent.

"If he's alive, Jo? We'll find him. You have my word on that. We'll get him back."

She sighed and pushed herself away from him, intent on following the others down the tunnel. Ronon was waiting.

"There's wraith out there. What the hell is going on Sheppard?"

Jo glanced sharply between the two men. "Weren't you brought here by wraith?"

A hand at her waist, a small caress, and she was able to take that needed breath, waiting for his reply.

"Not so much, Jo. Our captors? Were most definitely human. And therein lies the conundrum. 'Cause not only were they human? They were from earth."

"Oh?"

"Yeah...oh."

He moved her in front of him and noted that Lorne and the others were almost at the end of the tunnel. Teyla had waited also.

"Colonel Sheppard. We need to make a break when we get to the surface. Major Lorne has informed us that there are two darts and they are making regular passes back and forward . He has cloaked the jumpers, but they must have followed him from the planet that we were captured on."

"Humans working with wraith, Teyla?"

Lorne had dropped back from the entrance and had caught Teyla's comment.

"It would appear so, Major. We were able to pick up a little information after they captured us and we need to get back to Atlantis so that Colonel Carter can have all the facts and do some investigating."

"Ok people, let's get the hell out of here. I'm taking one of the F302's back with us – Lorne? Do we have another pilot who can take the other back? Or are we short on the gene."

Lorne answered, knowing that they needed two with the gene to fly both jumpers back, and with Sheppard taking one of the F302's, then they needed both Evans and himself the fly the jumpers. None of John's team had the gene other than himself and Lorne pointed a finger now at a young marine who stood near the entrance.

"Sully? Ever flown an F302?"

"Uh... no, sir."

"Today, Sully? You'll have to take a crash course. We're short on pilots. You good with that?"

"Yes, sir!" Excitement lit up the young airman's eyes and John stepped up and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Just stick close to me, Sully and no heroics. We want to get these ships back to Atlantis in one piece."

They managed to get back to the jumpers and the F302's without attracting dart attention and once they were airborne, Sheppard turned the F302 to home. Atlantis. They would not use the gate. With the wraith performing flyover maneovers near the gate, it was deemed too risky to use the gate. They would go home under their own power.

"So, Sheppard. Enjoy showing off out there... hmmm?"

She had an irreverent smile on her face as she waited in the jumper bay for the two F302's to come in. She had tracked his progress through the area of space they travelled, showing off just a little, either for the benefit of the young airman who flew the second F302, or her. She wasn't sure which.

The others filed past them, and John held her in place with a hand at her waist. He flicked a glance to Lorne.

"Sam's office in a half hour. Copy that?"

Lorne's darkened gaze took in the hand he had placed somewhat proprietorily on Jo's waist and he nodded once, pushing down a smile. Yeah, the Colonel looked as though he was going to make a move on the lady who was causing more than her share of trouble here in Atlantis.

"Copy that, Colonel. Oh, and sir?"

"Yes Lorne?" John's face was on Jo's and she returned his stare, those clear silver eyes locked onto his hazel ones.

"Good luck."

"Excuse me?" John had raised a quizzical brow, but still kept his gaze locked onto Jo's.

"With the taming of the shrew. Sir."

John's laughter followed Lorne out as he exited the jumper bay, and John tugged slightly to pull her closer. Still looking into his face, he watched as she hitched a breath and tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, sweetheart. We'll find him. I told you that."

"It's you, damn it! You, I was afraid for. You! I don't want to have to worry about someone else, but when Sam said you guys had lost radio contact. God, John. I was terrified. I wanted to come after you guns blazing..."

"And you did..."

"Yeah... I did..."

He dropped his head then and kissed her hard, softening it only slightly when she moaned, and raised her hands to fist in his hair.

Cupping her face in his hands he looked down in those beautiful eyes that were now filled with something he had come to recognise. Longing.

"We need to meet with Sam. After that? You're mine. No arguments. No protests."

"Uh uh...no protests."

He pulled her close again and surrendered to another long and hard kiss that had her gasping a little and she felt his arousal press against her. Hot and needy yes. But ready for something more.


	22. Chapter 22 Find the link

CHAPTER 22 – FIND THE LINK

John tried to keep his head in the game for just a little while longer, but the tension was thick in that room and he wondered if anyone else could pick it up. He entertained the thought that perhaps he could pick up a knife and just simply cut it. He deliberately sat away from her, did not think he could stand being in touching distance right now, he wanted her so much.

"Nice job bringing those 302's back, John. Unfortunately, we are not in position to let anyone on earth know that we have them back..."

Sam's eyes were touching on everyone in her office. Ronon stood calm and still, as he always did. Leaning against the wall of her office and dropping his head slightly so that his gaze was hooded. Teyla was not there. She had begged off the meeting, having made arrangements with her fellow Athosian's on the mainland. Rodney sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, drumming his fingers a little impatiently on the side of his hair, and Sam wanted to smirk. He was always in motion, his body sizzling with impatience most of the time and Sam didn't always know if it was just nervous energy or sheer impatience with the others around him, whose normal sized brains did not always connect things at the same speed that his supersized one did. Major Lorne sat quiet and watchful and Sam knew from the look on his face that he was doing his own share of internal processing about now.

Her eyes kept flickering between John and Jo. She had picked up the tension. She knew her military leader well, and when he was carrying luggage around, it stood out like a neon sign on his forehead. But it didn't take much of a jump to connect the dots. Sitting beside Rodney and idly swinging a trim ankle that was crossed over the other leg, Miss Josephine Barlow. The likely cause for the Colonel's tense features. Those two were heading down a particular fork in that road, and Sam guessed that things were about to come to a head.

"Have you made any contact with earth regarding this, Sam? We're gonna need some help on this one. Makes it hard, knowing that there is an earth connection with Barlow's disappearance. We had our heads covered as soon as we were captured, so we saw nothing. And they did their best to keep all talking to a minimum, so what we did hear could have been any human from any world."

"What makes you so sure they were from earth, John?" Sam's voice held curiousity.

"They refused to answer our questions, refused to speak directly to us. They covered our heads and took us through the stargate, then we were on foot the rest of the way. When we got near the entranceway to that tunnel, I deliberately tripped, I needed to force their hand a little. The cover came off my head and I saw those damn 302's – they were just sitting there, in plain sight. I had only seconds, they were already reaching for the cover to put back on my head. I thought – distraction, anything to push them enough to give us something, some clue as to who they were. I saw them briefly, or one of them, anyway. Could have been any human – dressed in simple villagers clothing, no military attire. But the weapon he carried... earth issue. And just before that damn cover was put back on my head, I saw around his neck – a cross necklace. Goes without saying that the good old cross has no spiritual significance in this particular galaxy."

John attempted to relieve some of his own nervous energy. He paced around the room, pausing occasionally to drop down onto the corner of Sam's desk and the other's watched his progress around the room.

"So, John. We're no closer to answers. Two 302's were taken aboard a ship – hive ship? In the milky way – brought to Pegasus. We're assuming that someone on earth cut some sort of deal with the wraith, or maybe a rebel faction of the wraith – and considering the secret locations of both the ships and the labs, then that does lend weight to the premise that these wraith are likely working apart from their hives. Collaborating with humans... gives a rather sickening slant to the word 'alliance'."

John pushed himself back from the desk, taking up his restless pacing again. Rodney held a finger in the air.

"We can assume that the wraith are getting technology out of the deal. What the hell does earth get out of it? Immunity? This is sounding a little like 'Survivor'."

"On a grand scale, Rodney. Yeah. I guess. Make an alliance with the wraith, or at least one small group off them, and vote someone off the island. So who is getting voted off?"

Sam turned sharply back to Jo.

"I need an honest answer from you Jo. Is there any way your father could have been involved in this? I know that's not something you want to hear, but before you get angry, I need you to tamper that temper down and consider this. We're starting to connect one or two of the dots – someone or multiple someones from earth, have been collaborating with the wraith. Two 302's disappeared in our galaxy at the time that an unknown ship – possibly a hive ship – was seen nearby. The same 302's have turned up – here."

Jo struggled with the anger that pushed up. "We found evidence that shows my father was kept in that lab, Colonel. That indicates that he was possibly used as part of an experiment."

"It indicates that he was in that room, Jo. That is all. We don't know if he was held there as captive, or a part of what went on in that room. Yes, we know that wraith use that lab – the design is wraith, not human. The equipment was not human. But that does not preclude the idea that he was a willing participant in whatever happened."

"Neither does it prove he was! Damn it Colonel – my father is no traitor, and I won't have you implying that he was!"

She pushed up out of her chair then and slammed out of the office, missing the exasperated look that John sent Sam's way. He had known that those were not the best buttons to push on the fiery Jo, and Jo would have taken it immediately as a direct insult to both herself and her father.

"You might have waited until you had some sort of evidence before bringing that one to the table, Sam. Not your most diplomatic moment..."

He flicked a quick look at Lorne, who had contributed nothing to the meeting, and his second in command shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea that Sam was going in that direction, and it had not been one that had crossed his mind. But like John, he agreed that perhaps it shouldn't have been brought into the discussion – at least with Jo present.

John paused at the doorway. "When you've done a little more research Sam, then we'll revisit that particular scenario. At the present, all we have is two missing pilots and a probable collaboration between a group of wraith and a human faction. Nothing more. Time to bring O'Neill into the mix – he started this whole ball rolling, and all very well for him to send Barlow's daughter over here – and for that matter, why the hell would he send HER, if he had any suspicion whatsoever that those pilots were involved. O'Neill must have something more than what he put out in that email. Without that earth connection, we're running around like headless chickens out here and can theorise until we're blue in the face... but answers need to come from earth before we can connect any dots."

The door shut behind him as he left, leaving the others in the room quiet and Sam decided that it was likely in her favour to end this meeting now. Tempers were beginning to run a little hot and this group needed time out after their capture.

And she had decided that a call to General O'Neill was simply not something she could put off any longer.


	23. Chapter 23 Payment is due

CHAPTER 23 – PAYMENT IS DUE

John's own temper followed him down the Lantien hallway and he repeatedly ran his hand through unruly hair, grimacing a little over the fact that he desperately needed a shower. First item on the agenda. Second? Time to collect on that downpayment.

He punched his door control a little more forcefully than was strictly necessary. He was still angry. Sam had been out of line in the way she had handled that meeting. In his way of thinking, she should have gone to O'Neill first, and wondered if her relationship with the man was clouding her judgement in that area. He understood her need to protect his position at the SGC and without his support? They would not get nearly as much done out there. O'Neill was, and had always been, their champion – and he was the one who kept the IOA and other government officials off their backs.

Regardless of that fact, Sam needed him on this one and he hoped that she would heed his advice and start down that road. Without it, they would continue to fly blind into the wind and someone would get hurt.

He stepped into his quarters, closing the door as soon as he had entered. Then came to a sharp halt in the middle of the room.

Sound asleep across his bed was Miss Josephine Barlow. Clad in only a tshirt – one of his, he noticed with a little amusement, and sporting long damp hair that indicated she had recently showered. She had not bothered to get under the covers, simply lain down haphazardly across his bed and arms and legs akimbo, had simply fallen asleep. Waiting for him.

He smiled, and just like that his temper was gone. Shucking off his clothes he moved quickly into the bathroom and found that the room was still warm and steamy and there was a discarded towel tossed negligently on the floor. He picked it up and rehung it. Jo was not the tidiest female he had ever encountered.

He showered quickly, tension dropped off his shoulders as the hot water worked out the kinks and aches and washed away some of the dirt that was more than just physical. He didn't want to think right now – tomorrow? His brain would no doubt be content to withstand all the bombardment it could, but tonight, he needed physical action – of the kind that the woman in his bed could bring.

Briskly drying himself, he looped the towel around his hips and sauntered out into the bedroom area. He stood over the bed for a few moments, looking down at the dark hair that spread across the cover and her face calm in repose. He sat down carefully, not quite ready to wake her yet, content to watch the slight flickering of her eyelids indicating that something was replaying behind those silver molten eyes. Reaching out a hand, he placed it lightly on the top of her thigh, feeling the warm soft skin and smoothed his hand down, enjoying the feel of her skin. She murmured then, moving slightly, but didn't wake.

His hand became a little bolder and travelled back up the leg, reaching under the tshirt that went down to mid thigh on her. He received a nice surprise, realising that she was naked underneath and he skimmed his hand lightly over her rounded bottom, causing the woman to sigh and stretch under his questing hand.

She turned then, eyes sleepy and a little unfocused and her hands automatically reached for him, pulling on the towel that still rested against his hips.

"'Bout time..."

"Getting impatient were you, Miss Barlow?" He bent down to kiss her, and her arms looped around his neck, pulling so that he slid his body down on the bed alongside hers, his arousal pressing hard against her thigh. Shifting restlessly, she rolled one leg in between his, feeling his need and allowing him to feel hers. Moist and ready and needing him as much as he needed her.

"Easy... wanna take this slow and enjoy... my payment."

"Payment, or punishment? Am I still racking up those punishment credits? Or have I paid that particular debt."

Her hands were doing delicious things on his inner thigh, touching and yet not, and he had to take a deep breath to douse his need a little or things would get out of hand pretty quickly.

"Punishment... mmm, now that brings some delicious thoughts to the table."

He rolled her over abruptly, holding himself up a little and looking down into those eyes that were now filled with need. Mirroring his own. She reached up a hand and touched it to his cheek and smiled as he leaned into her touch, his eyes closing briefly. Then dropping his head he began kissing her, starting at her jaw and working his way down, over her collarbone, down to her breasts and he stayed here for a little while, enjoying the taste and the texture and feeling her restless movements beneath him. He kept his hand busy, touching, smoothing and finally touching her where she most wanted to be touched. There.

Feeling her legs part for him, he smiled against her stomach, where his mouth now rested.

"Aaah... patience sweetheart. You can have it fast next time. This time? I want it slow..."

"Seems we disagree... Colonel."

And with that she wrapped those strong legs around him and flipped him over so that he was on his back, looking up at her flushed face with some amusement. But amusement turned quickly to something else as she gently eased herself down on him, gentle for only a short time, then he had to grip her hips as passion and something far more primal rode this particular pony and he was simply only along for the ride, keeping up as best as he was able.

She sizzled around him and he felt that molten flow that clamped and eased, then clamped again. Caught in a roller coaster of emotions and a whirlpool of passion, he didn't think he could find his way out again. He couldn't take his eyes off her, hair wild and abandoned around her head, some tendrils clinging to the side of her cheek, dampened by sweat, face flushed and eyes fixed on his. Steel silver, and sizzling as though they could melt all over him.

And then that dizzying drop through the darkness and when he came back she was crying his name as everything locked around him and he could only shut his eyes and allow his heart to settle back to a rhythm that was safe. Like molten lava she simply melted against him, limb to limb, skin to skin, slick now with sweat and passion.

His arms locked around her, pulling her against him as tightly as she would allow and he dropped his head into the warm place between her chin and her collarbone, inhaling her scent and smiled.

Her mouth was near his ear and he heard her soft words clearly.

"Could get used to that... Colonel..."

Then her voice faded a little and he felt the shift in her body as she fell into a deep sleep. And he simply shifted them both a little and pulled a blanket up from the end, and tucking her a little more tightly against him, sleep finally chased him down as well.

But not before the thought slipped comfortably across his mind.

He could get used to that too.


	24. Chapter 24 The general's cards

CHAPTER 24 – THE GENERAL'S CARDS

Sam had sat quietly in her office for a long time after the others had left the meeting. Chin resting on steepled hands, she had contemplated her position at the moment. John had been right. She was letting her personal relationship with Jack get in the way of what she should have been doing. What she should have already done.

Make contact with him and find out exactly what he knew.

Pushing herself away from her desk, she sneaked a look at her watch. Late here, but still a manageable time back at the SGC. Knowing the hours that Jack kept, it was likely he was still there in his office, and she now was driven by the urge to talk to him. This was over her head, hell – it was over her pay grade. Time for the big salaried boys to step up to the mark.

Entering the control room she was pleased to see that there was only one technician on duty. She needed a little privacy for the conversation that she was about to instigate.

Jack's face swam into focus on the video screen. The technician had arranged for the call to go through, then had discreetly left the room instinctively knowing that this particular call was for her ears only at the moment.

"Sam? While I always enjoy seeing your lovely face, something tells me that you are contacting me for a little more than simply pleasantries? How is my girl Jo settling in? Are you pulling your hair out yet? Or has she pulled her head in a little?"

"Yeah, about that Jack... and by the way? Next time you want to use us for a babysitting service, check with me first, hmmm?"

Jack chuckled. Only Sam could get away with talking to him like that. Technically he was her commanding officer, but they had a history that few knew the actual extent of. Seven years in SG1 together and they had been through hell and back – together – and survived. That sort of experience formed a bond of unbreakable proportions and somewhere along the way a more personal bond had been formed. Given the chain of command, a relationship would have been frowned on, so they had kept it discreet and at one point she had left his command to take up a residence at Area 51. At that point they had fallen more or less headlong into something that they had been denying themselves for several years.

"So... Sam. I sense something more troubling is about to be brought up. Am I right?"

"You know that dumb ass card doesn't work, Jack. We've got problems here, and you know what I'm talking about. Jo's reason for being here is no longer any secret. John found an email, and we've come to the conclusion that you were the bright spark who sent her that email. How warm am I getting, General O'Neill?"

Sam's voice had hardened and Jack sighed. He hadn't wanted to do this, but if she was coming to him, then things were going south pretty damn fast. And he'd not let them swing in the wind without help, regardless of the position that it might very well put him in.

"The beginning, Jack. Now..."

"A memo crossed my desk, Sam. About two years ago. It had some unsettling accusations in it – unsigned of course and no names mentioned. But it had enough information in there to make me start doing some very very discreet investigating. But as discreet as I tried to keep it, someone got wind and every avenue I had managed to find an opening to – shut down with a slam. The accusations hinted that a very small group on earth had arranged contact with a faction of wraith..."

"Two years ago, Jack? We've been out here for four years. To have made contact with the wraith, then they would have had to do it here – until we came, the wraith had no idea that earth existed."

She had interupted him, and he sighed, waiting for her to finish. So that he could continue.

"That is what I assumed, Sam. This small group, and I understand that it is very small, were in Atlantis two years ago. Or at least one of them was. Contact was made with the wraith, and they brought back a deal to put on the table – here."

"You know this with certainty, Jack? And why the hell wasn't something done about it back then?"

"I couldn't follow the connections and there is no proof. Even when Barlow's F302 went missing and a ship was reported in the vicinity by Prometheus... still no proof. Barlow and the other pilot have been missing for eight months now. I needed someone out there, in Pegasus to start looking into it. I can't trust anyone here, until I know who is not involved. It's a crap shoot Sam – I took a gamble. Jo is an extremely intelligent young woman – hell, she blew them all away in boot camp, and the testing when she first entered the airforce? Incredible. I knew that she would be an ideal choice to get her teeth into something like this. And the icing on the cake? It was her father. She'd fight that much harder to get to the truth."

"So you sent her that email..." murmured Sam.

"I sent her that email..." confirmed Jack. "and I sat back to see what she would do with it. She couldn't just come out and confront anyone – she had to find a way to get to Atlantis that didn't appear suspicious – at least to me. She had no idea that I sent the email... I implicated myself in there and made sure that if anyone was watching her, her attitude toward me had to be believable."

"You knew that her bad ass routine was just an act?"

"I've known Jo forever. I held her in my arms when she was born. She's like a daughter to me, hell, she's my goddaughter – so yeah, I knew it was an act. I knew that she was using that as a way to lay the foundation of an elaborate story. And to give her full credit, she worked it beautifully. No one questioned it. She had just lost her father... and once she pushed the boundaries to the point where she was likely to end up in jail, it didn't seem that much of a stretch to bring her on board with the stargate programme and give her a choice. Clean up her act there – or go to jail, here. I knew which one she'd choose – because I knew that she had engineered the whole game. With her qualifications, it was not a hard sell to get her out to Pegasus."

"Ok Jack, I'll give you that. But why was nothing done to track down those missing pilots? That I don't get..."

"We tried Sam... but it was blocked every step of the way. By someone who wanted it all swept under the rug. Finally we had to have an official announcement that they were KIA – for non military without clearance – that meant Afghanistan. For those in the know? The ships blew up. An in depth investigation took place, as it had to, but there was no trace of the ships, no debri... and there was nothing anyone could do."

"But Prometheus saw another ship on their radar?"

"That report was squashed down immediately and the Colonel of that vessel at the time, retired very soon after. I'm the only one here who still has knowledge of that sighting. And of course, those who squashed it down. During the last few months Sam – I started to question whether in fact any of this was true. Nothing happened. No one came forward. The wraith did not get to earth. So? Perhaps it was all a misleading statement by someone who simply wanted to create dissention in the programme. Or someone that wanted to bring me down. As you can see, Sam. It's been a lonely road and I've carried this one alone for the duration. I thought that Jo could take the reins and if there was anything to it – anything at all? Then she'd be the one to find it."

Jack fell silent and she saw by the set of his shoulders that it had indeed been a long road.

"Well Jack... it seems you're weren't completely wrong..."

His gaze sharpened and she had to stop herself from reaching out to touch his face – sitting at his desk a million or more light years away.

"Tell me Sam..."

"It's been an eventful few days. Jo and Major Lorne discovered a wraith laboratory on an otherwise uninhabited planet. And in that lab? They found evidence that Colonel Barlow had been there... Following on the heels of that little discovery... when they returned to search the lab more thoroughly, John and his team were captured by... humans from earth... still to be confirmed of course, but all roads lead to Rome... and were taken to another secret facility where another discovery awaited them. Care to take a guess, Jack?"

"The missing pilots?"

"Aaah no... but close. The missing F302's..."

"Ah crap..."

"Crap indeed General O'Neill. So we can confirm your link. Wraith faction and earth faction. And we can confirm that indeed the pilots and the ships were taken aboard the mysterious vessel that appeared in the milky way. And we can likely assume that the mystery ship was indeed a hive ship. That is all we have for now..."

"I'm thinking that my decision to send young Jo out there was the right one... she's helped to uncover more in the space of a week that I did in eight months. Incredible."

He had fallen silent and she asked him softly.

"What's wrong, Jack?"

"Did she believe it of me, Sam? That I was involved?"

She read the pain on his face and knew what it had cost him to put himself in that position. And knew that he had deliberately chosen not to put Sam in the firing line by bringing her on board. Always protecting her. And she knew then that without a doubt, she would always love this man, taciturn and highly irreverent, but loyal to a fault.

"At first... she didn't know who to trust, so yeah, a part of her did. But we were quick to point out the logistics of you being involved simply could not be valid... and I think Jack, that a big part of her? Never believed that you could be behind it. But she had been put out on that limb by you – and she did her best to hold on until she could get herself out here."

She'd taken some of that burden from him now and she saw his posture seemed a little lighter.

"You've been carrying this around on your own, Jack. How did you do it?"

"A part of me had pushed it down, when nothing seemed to come of it... but it sat there festering a little, and you know I'd go to hell and back to protect you. That should go without saying."

"Yeah, Jack. I get that. But next time? Let me in from the beginning... hmmm? Could have saved us all a lot of flack..."

"Copy that... sweetheart."

And her lips curved in a smile, already planning a small trip back to earth to spend some much needed time with her General.

Once all this had been brought to a successful conclusion.


	25. Chapter 25 Those magic hands

CHAPTER 25 – THOSE MAGIC HANDS

He had awakened with a sense of calm and stretching slightly to ease the kinks, he had felt that instant warmth flood through him. A long night with her in his arms. She had awoken him twice during that night, needing more from him, and needing the same thing from her – they had simply taken from each other until sated, and slept again. Then had come the calm understanding in his mind. It was not just need. It was the beginning of something more than just physical and it was with this thought on the tip of his consciousness that he had rolled over that morning, reaching for her body again, to find the bed empty.

Therefore it was a slightly disgruntled Colonel who, after spending a half hour trying to find her, had at last made his way to the jumper bay, where all measure of activity was taking place.

Walking up to one of 302's, he had seen her slim legs stretching out underneath the bottom, one of the feet tapping a rhythm that only the owner could hear. A smile came to his face then, and reaching down, he ran his hand up that leg, hearing a muffled oath, a crashing and then the flushed face of one very delectible grease monkey scooted out from underneath the ship, silver eyes flashing molten steel.

"Damn it John! I nearly short circuited something... damn."

His grin grew wider and he was pleased to bring a little of his own angst to her. Payback was a bitch.

"Serves you right for leaving me... alone... this morning. The bed got cold, and hell – I was expecting a warm body to still be there."

"Excuse me you two... if you've quite finished with the analogy of last night's activities, which incidentally is of no interest to the rest of us here?"

Rodney's acerbic comment caused a sardonic lift of his eyebrow, and flicking a glance around the jumper bay, found that Lorne and Sam were both there as well, amused smiles on their faces.

"Ok, so … consider that the equivalent of a public announcement. Citywide." The Colonel was unrepentant. If the rest of the gang knew about them, then so be it. He'd happily shout it from the highest tower in Atlantis – if anyone gave a damn. And he was pretty sure they didn't... except maybe General O'Neill. That particular annoucement could be a little awkward.

"Anyway... what is going on here, and why does this particular party not include me... hmmm?"

"Seems Jo had an epiphany in the early hours of the morning..." Rodney began...

John's eyebrows shot skyward. An epiphany? His recollection of the early hours of that morning brought other things to mind... but perhaps it was being called an 'epiphany' these days. As if catching his train of thought, Jo scowled at him, bringing a delighted smile to his face. It was fun rattling her. It brought out those violet highlights in her eyes and made her all flushed... which brought other things to mind.

"...and she wanted to strip down the 302's and see if her theory panned out. Apparantly she tried to wake you but you were sleeping like the proverbial baby. Anyway, long story short... magic hands here has found something."

'Magic hands' was indeed almost beside herself with glee and John made a calming motion with his own hands to try and get her to bring it down a level before she exploded. Lorne was outright grinning, and shaking his head. Despite their earlier rocky start, he had become good friends with the young mechanic and while he certainly did not envy the Colonel what he was taking on, as a friend, she was proving to be most entertaining.

"I got to thinking John – why the 302's? Yeah, they have basic Asgard technology, at least that is what I understand from studying the manuals – but they must have something more to make them a deal breaker. So...Rodney and I have pulled the drive system apart."

Absently, she rubbed a hand across her cheek and it came away smeared with... something and he stepped forward to run a thumb down her cheek to remove whatever it was. She looked at him distractedly.

"We found something John..."

"You found something, Jo – I just helped you to sort out what it could be..."

John looked at Rodney in surprise. It wasn't like the scientist to allow anyone else to take any credit whatsoever for anything that he was even partially involved in.

She reached down under the craft and brought out a small piece of equipment. Innocuous looking, it was oval shaped and had small fibrous wires attached and to John it looked like a spider... or a bug – and he gave a shiver of disgust. He did not like bugs of any description, metallic or otherwise.

"Ok you two – can you break the suspense a little.. I may be slower than the pair of you, but my brain can generally follow along at a reasonable pace, so please – don't hold back on my account."

Jo carried on, giving Sam a quick look in order to get her approval. They had been chatting earlier and Sam had told Jo about her talk with Jack the previous night and had been able to lay the girl's concerns at rest as to whether he was involved at all in her father's disappearance. She hadn't divulged much else to her, preferring to fill John in first.

"This is Asgard technology John – and not on the approved list – at least that's what Rodney tells me. Weapons technology, not used on either of your battle cruisers and not sanctioned at all by the Asgard. It's been fitted into the 302 – and there are some other modifications. Essentially? These are not the same ships that you know the 302's to be."

"But when I flew it yesterday... I didn't feel anything different."

"Likely because you didn't have to access these additional features. Weapons for one – and pretty powerful weapons. More powerful than the drones you use here. A specialised tracking device has been added, and the kicker? Hyperspace capability."

John's mind was reeling. For two reasons. Firstly? How did this young mechanic from earth, who a short time ago had no knowledge whatsoever of the stargate programme, understand and accept so readily, the technology and capabilites of an alien race. That more or less blew him away. And the second – this information made the F302 an extremely formidable ship with capabilties beyond anything that they had at present or had come across in this galaxy.

This would make the F302's an extremely desired bargaining chip. And the pilots? Icing on the cake as part of the deal. Access to the ancient gene. So the little deal that had been put on the table? Just seemed a whole lot sweeter for whoever was on the receiving end of it.

But Jo wasn't finished dropping her little bombshells yet. Not by a long shot.

"I found what could more or less be called, a signature. Not on the technology I just showed you – but on some of the basic functioning systems that have been upgraded and modified to make them a whole lot more efficient than your original 302's. Given what Rodney has told me – it seems unlikely that these particular modifications were sanctioned by your government."

He waited for her to finish. Her eyes sparkled now and he felt himself spiralling down into a tunnel that he doubted he would find his way out of. Feelings and emotions and a connection with her that was strengthening by the minute.

"Some of these components, John. Only accessible by one group." It was Rodney who took up the explanation now, his own enthusiasm showing as he theatrically waved his hands to emphasis his words. "The Trust... ring any bells?"

John thought back. The Trust - a shady interplanetary terrorist group composed of rogue ex-NID operatives and the international business and political cabal which funds them. The Trust were more radical in their methods and objectives than the Rogue NID, and had been particularly active several years ago, before earth set it's sights on Atlantis and John recalled that O'Neill and Sam had come up against their methods several times in the past.

"Sam?"

She knew that he looked to her for confirmation as the only one to have contact and knowledge of this group. Sam nodded.

"I think they're right John. Those components? I bet if we get Jack to track them back to their source, it'll be one of their private company's that have provided materials to the stargate programme in the past.

John sighed. The morning that had begun so well, sought now to spiral out of control and it seemed this whole mess was showing no signs yet of being cleared up.

"That's not all John..."

Something flashed in Jo's eyes. He wasn't going to like it. He knew that now.

"While you slept... Rodney and I came up with a plan. Pending your approval of course..."

This last had Lorne chuckling a little. He wasn't privy to this plan yet, but knew by the tone of her voice that the Colonel was not going to like it and she would be battling for more than just approval of her plan.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he opened them again feeling a little like he was just an observer in the very much larger than life game that was Miss Josephine Barlow.

"We're gonna set a trap. And I know just how to do it..."

Her self satisfied smile was the straw that broke the camels back. Striding toward her he gripped her upper arm and tossing a look over his shoulder, went to march her out of the room.

"You and I Jo? We're going to have a little private talk. Because there are few things I would like to say to you that I'm sure you would rather was in private. Very very private."

She chose silence. If the look on his face was anything to go by, she had a lot of explaining to do.


	26. Chapter 26 Spirals

CHAPTER 26 – SPIRALS

He didn't speak either – not until he had dragged her through the hallway and pushed her into an empty room. His eyes had flickered around the room, noting that it was some sort of storage area, but it was empty of people, and that was all he was concerned with.

He released her arm when he at last stopped them in the centre of the room, after making sure the door was secure. He took a few moments to run his hand through his hair, then he looked at her.

"There's a little process we have around here. It's called chain of command. Sam? She's pretty much at the top of it – but when it comes to security and military decisions... you see, Jo. I'm it. The boss. So when you start getting these half cocked ideas into that gorgeous head of yours – about setting traps... I get a little... cross."

She widened those silver eyes, wondering what the real issue was here. She would have talked to him first, but she had let him sleep – not really tried too hard to wake him. He looked so peaceful and she knew that he got little enough sleep... so she had simply dropped a light kiss onto his forehead, gotten dressed and slipped out of his room. Her idea had gripped her, and she needed Rodney first, as most of it was technical. The rest? Had come after she had realised what was under the hood – so to speak.

"Ok, John. You wanted to talk? Fine, let's talk. But this is not the real issue, is it? A catalyst maybe... an excuse for you to slam down on me. But the real issue?"

He turned partly away from her and lifted his face slightly toward the ceiling, wondering himself, just what the real issue was. She made him angry and he couldn't even put his finger on the why. Not really. Lack of self preservation perhaps? She had a blatant disregard for her own safety, and while she was military trained, she still took risks that were not acceptable.

And there was the other thing.

Those feelings he was starting to have around her were beginning to war with common sense. When he looked at her he saw only the woman. But when she opened her mouth? She was a soldier, a warrior and someone ready to go in and do battle. With whatever. And if the truth be told, that is what scared the crap out of him.

She had moved closer to him, and slipping her arms around his waist she hadn't waited for an invitation. Simply moved into him, pulling herself tightly against his body and rested her cheek against his chest. Felt the beating of his heart and heard his sigh, and knew that she was not wrong.

"Aahh crap. How are you doing this to me? Last night? Was supposed to take care of this damn tension between us – this tight wire that stretches back and forward, mostly pulling so damn tight it hurts. Last night was supposed to fix that."

He sounded so forlorn that she laughed softly.

"Not such an easy fix, eh John? Could be that it's not just sex with us? Hmmm?"

He dragged his eyes down from the ceiling and rested his chin on the top of her head. She continued.

"I know I should have spoken to you first...hell, John. I know a lot of things. But I don't always think things through before I do or so them. I'm not that kind of person. I do. Then I think. And sometimes the crap hits the fan. But I'm not deliberately leaving you out of the loop – I just get caught up in the moment and it's sink or swim. Mostly I kinda do ok with the swimming part. And if it's sink? My fault, and I accept that and don't blame anyone else."

He cupped her cheeks in his both hands and pulled her face away a little so that he could look down into it.

"I do get you, Jo. I do. But we're a team. This city is a team. You go off half cocked with an idea that hasn't been sanctioned by myself or Sam – the whole team goes down. Are you getting that yet?"

She shuttered those beautiful eyes and he felt a moments regret. She had always been on her own, he knew that. There had never been anyone special in her life – she had never made the time for it, nor had she met anyone who had given her the necessary desire to give up her freedom.

Until now. Opening those eyes again, she tried to convey that to him, and he felt something shift inside him.

"Do you trust me Jo?"

"With what John... Trust is a many faceted emotion. With my life? Then yes. With something else...I don't know if I'm ready for the 'something else'."

He kissed her then, hard and with such a fierce need that she shuddered. When he pulled back so that she could get her breath, his hazel eyes were blazing with something warm and poweful.

"You will be...and when you are? Perhaps I'll be the one waiting for you."

"Perhaps..." she agreed and suddenly her voice hitched a little. His hand, which had been tightly wound around her waist, now dropped lower, so that it curved over her backside and began to knead gently.

"Hey... kinda playing unfair there..."

"Fair doesn't come into the equation... so, this plan... hmmm? While I have you in a somewhat compromising position, perhaps you'll care to enlighten me."

"Mmmmmm... perhaps. But perhaps I'll just enjoy this a little longer." His hand had slipped between her legs and she felt his grin as his mouth rested against her hair.

"Not until you tell me... the plan. Then perhaps... I will continue to indulge you."

She tipped her head up and the sleepy eyes looked up at him causing his resolve to almost shatter and he willed himself to remove his hand to rest gently at her waist again, smiling a little at the disappointment in her eyes.

"'Fess up... At the moment it is still a request. If you don't start talking in the next 30 seconds, I'll change that to an order."

"You know the saying, John... hide something in plain sight?" When he nodded she continued. "We do a little modifying of our own with the 302's... I have a few ideas in that department but I need to liase with Rodney on that. I might have the touch, but he's got the background, so we'll need to work together on that one. But if I can get these modications sorted, then we leave the 302's somewhere... where we know they'll find them. And these modifications that I'm half way thinking about? They'll help in leading these guys right back to us."

"The wraith?"

"Both groups. They're working together – they have to be. We know that both human and wraith were on Lorne's training planet. That indicates each group needs the other for something. I've got a theory on that one, too..."

"I'm not even going to ask..."

"When you interupted me? Before? I had just found something else... and I haven't told Rodney yet. There's something a little different under the hood...organic."

John's glance was sharp. "Organic?"

"Yeah John...if I was a betting woman, I would go as far to say that some of the experimentation taking place? They are finding a way to combine wraith and asgard technology. And why would they do that...?"

John shook his head. She was skipping too far ahead for him to follow. He needed to get her to take a step back.

"Slow down a little..."

"You wanted me to come to you first? Suck it up John – that's exactly what I've done. You're the only one I've said anything to. Think about it. Wraith and Asgard technology combined. It's not earth they're after..."

His voice was quiet. "They're after the Asgard... and the way to take them down. We're small potatoes, nothing. The Asgard? They are the ones with the ability to keep them out of the milky way. The moment they step in there, we will have our protection called into play, and those little grey butts will come down on the wraith like a ton of bricks. Out here? The Asgard have no jurisdiction."

Jo finished it for him. "Take out the Asgard and earth – and all the other planets in the milky way under their protection - is theirs..."


	27. Chapter 27 Modifications

CHAPTER 27 – MODIFICATIONS

The soldier was there, and in spades. John had released her abruptly and taking her hand had led her quickly back to the jumper bay. Rodney was still there, performing his own analysis on the modifications that Jo had found. He had also discovered the organic compounds that Jo had spoken to John about, and when Jo burst into the jumper bay, Rodney had a look of horror on his face.

"You saw this..." He didn't ask, he simply assumed. "Sam? You know what this means?"

Sam looked from Rodney and back to John, and nodded. It didn't take much to put two and two together. The wraith were collaborating with the The Trust in order to secure the ships needed to complete their own advancements in technology. It was unlikely that The Trust would have any clue as to their real agenda. Not to offer earth immunity from culling once they entered the milky way. But to destroy the one thing that was stopping them from securing the milky way as a new feeding ground.

"They're being double crossed. Pure and simple. They are here in this galaxy to make sure that the wraith keep their end of the bargain. But what would stop the wraith from just taking the ships and destroying the Trust. Once they have the ships and Barlow – they have what they need."

"Unless the Trust are holding one more card... one we have yet to find. Enough to pull something out of their hats if need be." Lorne was tapping a finger against his chin, the implications of what they were suggesting seemed almost preposterous.

"The only thing that the wraith could possibly fear, would be either starvation, or the Asgard. The Trust can't do much about the starvation, but they could potentially request an audience with the Asgard and inform them of the wraith intention to infiltrate the milky way. They'd have to fight back then. And with Asgard technology still far superior to wraith, they wouldn't stand a chance."

"So they're secretly preparing to take down the Asgard anyway. And the Trust will go with them. They'll have no further use for them."

"A deal with the devil..." Sam murmured.

"Indeed..."

Jo had been letting the conversation flow over here and contributing nothing. John's gaze had been on her the whole time and he had watched as thoughts flickered across her face and she had seemed to move inside herself. Suddenly just not there anymore. She had walked away slowly, towards one of the 302's, and had crouched down, a frown upon her face. Rodney had followed her, curious to see where her thoughts were going. It had seemed that he was acknowledging her greater skill in the simple speed and accuracy she unerringly showed, considering that she had no experience working with these machines before.

Jo called them over. "I might have something. I can see what they've been trying to do. The wraith or organic enhancement increases the weapons power one hundred fold. These are formidable weapons, and considering the small size of this ship, one burst of the weapons system would be enough to take out an entire battle cruiser – or in equivalent terms – a hive ship. One burst. And this weapons system is capable of several hundred bursts. It is simply that powerful. The shielding technology as used by the Asgard is completely indomitable and nothing that the Asgards can throw at it will penetrate it. There is cloaking capabilities, and while the original 302's were only capable of short bursts of interstellar travel, with the modifications that my father engineered, these are now able to stabilise their power source sufficiently to complete long intersteller or hyperspace jumps. From this galaxy, to the Milky Way. In one jump."

"Ok, so that's a little scary..."

"Two of these would wipe out an entire fleet of Asgard ships. Without a doubt. My father, unknowingly, did an amazing job of providing earth with the perfect killing machine. Unfortunately in the hands of the enemy, it can be turned against earth and that is likely something that he did not foresee. If he is alive, and I still surmise that he is... then I can only imagine how upset he must be."

John had dropped down onto the ground beside her and put out a hand to run up her arm and rest on her shoulder.

"You still think he's alive, Jo?"

"I think he's alive John – I can feel it. Remember when those darts were crisscrossing back and forward... searching for something on that planet? We found evidence that he'd been held there, in that lab. What if...what if, he escaped. What if he's there somewhere, on that planet. It's dense jungle, a million places to hide. And they're looking for him...?

Something flashed in Lorne's eyes and he turned to Sam. "The DHD! They deliberately fired at the DHD. They're weren't firing at me – I wondered that at the time...they were blocking his escape from the planet. She could be onto something."

John pushed himself up from the ground and ran a hand through his head. "Jesus, Jo. He could have been under our noses the whole time. Sam?"

"Go, John. Organise search teams. Take them back to the planet. The gate is repaired. I would suggest taking jumpers so that you can cover a wider area.."

Sam paused, watching as Jo's face paled and she tried to stand and swaying, almost fell. "Jo!"

"S'ok...just a little dizzy. I'm ok."

"Damn it Jo – when the hell did you last eat? You are not going anywhere until you get some food into you. You've been up since god knows what time after little enough sleep – and no food. Simple biology – you don't feed your body, it's gonna shut down on you. Go – now!"

"But..." she started to protest, wanting to get immediately into a jumper and go after her father.

His voice softened. "I need to organise the teams Jo, we won't leave without you...go"

She didn't argue further, and Rodney deciding that she needed an escort, used this as an excuse to go and get himself a second breakfast. John joined them a few minutes later. He found that in her company, food seemed to come a second in his order of things also, and took the time now to make sure that she ate, and to get some food into himself.

Her colour was a little better when he sat down with her and Rodney and it wasn't long before Teyla and Ronon joined them,having caught wind of what was going down.

"So, we gotta find them before the wraith do, huh?" Ronon had his mouth full, but his eyes were bright and curious. "You worked out yet why the wraith have even kept him alive?"

Seeing her face pale again, John aimed a kick towards Ronon under the table. The man had an insensitive streak a mile long and Jo was already pushing crap uphill dealing with everything else. She didn't need to hear Ronon's comments.

"We know he has the knowledge of some pretty powerful technology and originally, the plan would have been to use him to sweeten the deal. Two ships and one pilot – assuming that they had no use for the other pilot – and access to blueprints and plans. Jo's a chip off the old block. Barlow could fix anything, and apparently his design skills were formidable. He was responsible for many of the top operating systems and some modifications that are so top secret that they are not even in use yet. The wraith were handed that on a silver platter..."

"If the information was given freely..."

"Which it wouldn't have been!" Jo was on her feet, her face white as she glared down at Ronon. "My father is no traitor and don't you dare suggest that he is. If he gave that information, he'd be dead by now. If he's still alive, then he refused to impart it. And from what I could see in the lab, they were not using torture devices, at least not ones that I recognised. They were using drugs and performing experiments."

John had reached up for her hand and pulled gently, waiting until she had sat back down, but not before giving Ronon a glare. Tact was most certainly not a part of his personality.

They were interupted then by Carson's voice over John's radio, requesting him to come to the infirmary. He had something that he wanted to show them. Flicking a glance at Rodney and the others, indicating that perhaps they should join him, he picked up the last piece of toast and placed it sqarely in Jo's mouth, waiting until reluctant amusement touched her eyes.

"Eat..." he said softly. And following along behind the others, she did just that, finishing the toast and wondering just what Carson was going to tell them.

He called them back into his research area which was located just off to one side of the infirmary. He had taken the samples and organs from the wraith laboratory and he and his team had been running DNA tests on them and performing other experiments to try and work out what the wraith had been using them for. Carson's face was serious.

"These are replicated organic human organs. Not real. And this one?" He held up one jar that held an easily recognisable organ – the human brain. "...is amazing. The detail and the functionality is incredible. It is human, for all intents and purposes, but has been created using organic wraith materials. I have run the DNA and it is a very very close match to your father's Jo. We were able to get his records from the SGC so that I had something to compare. If I were a betting man, I would say that they were using your father to extract DNA and clone or rebuild a replica brain. In theory, it would contain all the information that your father had in his."

"Including all the blueprints for Asgard technology. And once this was complete and tested... then they would have no further use for your father. He knew this Jo... and I think you're right... self preservation kicked in and he found the strength to escape. But not before trying to destroy what they had built."

Tears were in Jo's eyes and John reached for her hand and tugged her close, holding her against him.

"He wasn't a traitor..."

"No, sweetheart. I never thought he was... you see? You come from the same stock, and you may be many things, but I knew you'd never willingly or knowingly compromise national security and the safety of your people. Your own maybe? And that IS one of the things about you that needs serious addressing... but your integrity is above reproach, as I would think your father's is."

"Thank you... for your trust. It means more than you can think."

"Aaah, trust. We talked about this earlier, I believe.."

"Yeah..."

Looking at the others over her head, he sighed. "Looks like we have a Colonel to find, people! Let's go to it, let's bring him back. Then when he's safe – we'll have a little think about a certain plan that someone wants to put into place... to bring down the Trust. We need to make sure that this doesn't happen again."


	28. Chapter 28 Bring him back

CHAPTER 28 – BRING HIM BACK

It didn't take John long to organise search teams and leaving the order for everyone to gear up and meet him in the jumper bay in an hour, he had headed back to his quarters, pausing briefly outside Jo's door. He hadn't knocked, just opened the door and entered and found her sitting on the bed, holding her father's insignia. She hadn't acknowledged him immediately, but when she did look up, her eyes were bleak and he thought how different she looked from that woman who had literally swaggered through the gate over a week ago.

The toughness had been on the outside, but the inside? Pure marshmellow, and she now wore that sweetness on the outside for him to see. The shell had cracked and he knew that she was trying to take precious moments to rebuild it before departing on this mission.

"I guess there's no point in asking whether you'd consider standing down on this mission..."

She launched herself off the bed and he had to put his arms out to halt her.

"You can't leave me behind...I'd find a way..."

"Hush... I'm not leaving you behind. I just wish you'd consider sitting this one out. You're too close, and I'm worried you'll get hurt."

He wrapped her in his arms, feeling her body soften against his as she let him take her weakness and exchange it for some of his strength. He felt her hands splayed out on his back, felt their restless movement and found his own slipping under her tshirt to cup her breasts. She hadn't pulled away, had simply moaned and knowing immediately what she wanted, knowing he wanted it too, he had brought his mouth down to hers, kissing her hard and dragging her body even tighter against his own.

He drew her tshirt over her head and walked her backwards towards the bed. He'd try and take away her fears for a short while, let her take away something that she could hang onto.

His growing feelings for her. And hoped that she would come to acknowledge her growing feelings for him.

He followed her down onto the bed and his mouth and hands caressed and covered that soft skin, bringing her moaning and writhing beneath him within minutes. Her own hands ran up and down his back and stepping back to remove his own clothing, he was able to look down at her, at her already flushed skin and silver eyes that held his. He removed her trousers, kissing his way down her legs, up the inside of her thighs, smiling against her skin as he felt the muscles tighten in anticipation. She reached for him, and he groaned aloud and she began a delicious stroking rythym that had him achingly hard and desperate for release and his own hand found her moist and ready and sighing his name as he eased himself into her.

Then came release as he spiralled out of control and heard the beating of her heart as it kept pace with his, allowing himself the time to simply lie beside her, hooking a leg around her to pull her even closer as he felt his senses slowly begin to come down.

She rolled toward him and pressing her face against his chest he felt her lips curve into a smile. Her voice was muffled.

"So... trust, huh?"

"One day... yeah. That'd be nice."

"That day, John? Might be here sooner than you think... kinda thinking it's not so much fun to go it alone, all the time..."

"Yeah...?" He felt his heart lift a little at this news, but kept his voice casual.

"Yeah..." Her reply held a curious wonder, and when they rolled apart a few minutes later, emotionally sated, she was ready to throw on her clothes and head for the gear room. He stopped her briefly at the door before they left.

"I won't let you down." His voice was soft and looking into his eyes she saw the quiet intensity there.

"I know you won't John. Let's go find my father..." She reached up and gave him one last hard kiss that left him a little breathless and lighter of step as they headed down to the gear room.

Two jumpers filled with eight teams flew through the stargate a half hour later and Jo could barely contain her nervous energy. As they flew low over the planet, cloaked in case of wraith activity, John flicked concerned glances in her direction.

"He's down there John... I can sense him, somehow. Damn it. I can't believe we might have been that close before and just left him here..."

John's response was dry. "We sorta had other issues at the time... a certain someone had been attacked by a wraith and needed medical attention. Ring any bells?"

Jo didn't respond, she just leant forward in the seat, peering out through the large window, eyes flicking back and forward across the terrain. The jungle was fairly thick and covered a good part of the planet and would afford more than it's fair share of hiding places. It would be akin to that famous search for a needle in a haystack, and unfortunately they couldn't come in with alarms blaring, trying to attract his attention. They had to remain under the radar so as not to attract wraith attention. _A catch 22_, John had thought a little sourly.

He flicked on his radio. "Lorne? I'm going to put jumper one down near the mountain labs. Can you take the other side of the planet? We're going to have to divide this search into grids. I'll have Rodney download a topo map and we can mark it off - he'll send it through when we hit the ground. Methodical. If he's out there, we have to find a way to get him to trust us. He'll be more than just a little wary - remember, he'll likely be more than aware that an earth faction are responsible for this and will not come out into the open unless he is one hundred percent certain."

"At least we have Jo with us... if we find him, she can bring him in." Lorne's reply came back over the radio.

"Unless he thinks they're using her to set a trap. He's been in captivity for nearly eight months. We don't know what sort of testing or experimentation has been done on him, and what state his mind is in. Go in there carefully, and set your weapons to stun."

"John?" Jo's worried glance shot immediately his way.

"He could be dangerous Jo, and we need to be prepared. We have no idea what's going through his mind at the moment. I want your word - and I mean it! - that you will listen and not go rushing in there with your emotions at high flame. You need to temper those down, and if I think for ONE moment that you are gonna blow this, I'm gonna tie you up myself until it's all over. You got that?"

Molten silver flashed and he pushed down his smile of satisfaction. He had wanted to rattle her a little,and he had wanted her to know that she got one shot at this - blow it? And she would be out.

Once Rodney had downloaded his grid analysis and forwarded it to Lorne, John touched his jumper down, noting the absence of wraith in the vicinity of the laboratory.

"Ok teams. You have your search grids. I want regular and frequent radio contact. Anything suspicious or you think needs further investigation, radio in your location and we'll liase from there. Questions?"

He had split them into four teams of four and Lorne had the same number and configuration at his end. John had moved Jo, Teyla and Rodney into his search team and had asked Ronon to head up one of the other search teams. Ronon was comfortable in jungle terrain and had excellent tracking skills and would act as John's second in command at this end.

"Any sign of wraith, take immediate cover. Do not engage. Is that clear?"

He waited until he had received confirmation, then heading in a north west direction he had moved his team away from the jumper. They had brought along overnight gear if it seemed that a longer search would become necessary, which meant shelter, food supplies and other essential items. These would remain in the jumper and would be the central liason point should this be required.

John and his team pushed through the heavy foliage. They had selected this particular direction because he had known that it would likely provide the hardest going. He'd not allow any other team to take on more than what he himself would do. It was hard going and they had to stop frequently for breaks and water. They did see signs that someone had been through previously - telltale signs of broken foliage and light indentations in the ground. When John had bent down for a closer look he had not been able to recognise the indentations due to their loss of integrity in the humid damp air and having radioed Ronon whose tracking skills were superior to his, he found that Ronon had been unable to identify the tracks either. Human, wraith or wildlife. That was the million dollar question.

Jo, following along behind John, stumbled and Teyla who had been following her, grabbed for her arm to steady her. John had halted, and turning flicked his glance over her from head to toe. He could see that she was exhausted - still not one hundred percent healed from her previous encounter from the wraith, she really was not in suitable condition to take on a search in this particular terrain. Teyla caught his glance and released her arm, and John pulled his water bottle out of his vest, as well as some salt tablets. He gestured for the others to sit down for a few minutes, and pulling her aside her put the tablets in her hand.

"Take these. You're becoming dehydrated. Come here..." Heedless of the others sitting nearby, he pulled her towards him, allowing her to rest against him and he felt her heart racing a lot faster than it should have been. "You know that Carson was going to refuse to give you medical clearance? I had to get him to bend a few rules to allow you out here..."

"I couldn't not be here, John."

"I know that, and that's the only reason you're here now. But we don't need any heroes out here - the moment you feel faint or dizzy, I want you to speak up. This'll only work if we work - as a team. Got that? If you go down because you don't speak up, then we all go down."

She leaned against him, pushing away the dizziness that had been plaguing her, and felt a moment of guilt. It was manageable. But the moment it wasn't? Then yes, she would speak up.

The continued searching for another one hour in the same direction, then cut across the grid and headed back towards the jumper which would in effect cover the same amount of ground to the north, heading south east. They saw signs of the same tracks and again John wondered what had made them. They had seen no other sign of wildlife and Lorne had advised that when the initial recon was done of this planet, the natural wildlife found here was small and non predatory. These tracks were larger and did appear to be almost humanoid, and John after checking with Lorne and the teams on the other side of the planet, found that the tracks did not appear over there.

Four hours of searching and the sun began to go down. They arrived back at the jumper just as twilight entered the picture and Jo, after helping the others pull out the overnight gear and begin setting up, collapsed down onto one of the sleeping bags to rest, while one the marines began stoking up a fire. They would eat MRE's, but a hot cup of coffee remained more than just a luxury, it was a necessity, and Rodney busied himself with this particular task.

Teyla sat down beside Jo, and looked down at the younger woman in sympathy.

"I am sorry that we did not find your father today. Perhaps tomorrow we shall have better luck?"

"Do you think he's out here somewhere Teyla? Or do you think I'm just being fanciful..."

"If you feel in your heart of hearts that he is here, then you need to let those feelings guide you."

Rodney snorted rudely from his place at the campfire. "Oh please... don't start on this mumbo jumbo. Stick to hard core facts and science Jo. Did you see any physical evidence that he was here. Anything?"

"Rodney..." John began. "Play nice..."

"Im tracking through mud and heat and humidity. Oh and mosquitos. Did I mention bugs? I hate bugs. Playing nice...? Didn't get the memo on that – sorry."

John moved so that he was standing in front of Rodney, and Ronon - standing near the outskirts of the small clearing, smirked.

"Consider the memo delivered. Got that?"

John had pushed himself right into Rodney's face and the scientist backed off. It didn't generally pay to bring the Colonel's temper up to boiling point. Rodney had felt the hot edge of that temper more than once, and he had no wish to feel it again.

"Aaah... right, Colonel."

"Sheppard. A word?" Ronon, at the edge of the clearing, stood looking into the jungle. John, after a final hard stare at Rodney, was satisfied that he would keep his mouth shut in future, and moved over to Ronon.

"Problem?"

"Dunno, Sheppard. There's something out there. Something large. Maybe a man, maybe not. Those tracks we picked up. You really think it belonged to Jo's father?"

"They were messed up, but big enough. Without shoes maybe?"

"Maybe... but just to be safe. Gonna take first watch tonight. Ok, Sheppard?"

John slapped a hand on Ronon's shoulder. "You'll get no argument from me. Once I hit that sleeping bag, it's straight over to the dark side."

Ronon huffed a laugh and looked back over John's shoulder, taking in Teyla and Jo chatting together on the sleeping bag. "She doing ok?"

"Yeah, she's holding up. Couldn't have gone on much longer though. I don't want her taking watch tonight. We'll split it between the others. She needs the sleep."

"Copy that Sheppard." and he turned back and stared off into the jungle, where the night sounds had begun to awaken in the cloying darkness. Small animals, large bugs and something else... waiting for them to sleep.

He grabbed two MRE's and two cups of coffee and moved over to where Jo's small frame was a silhoette in the darkness. The firelight flickered against the cloying humidity, the fire more for comfort and light, than heat on this sticky planet where the night temperature did not vary very much from the day. Crouching down, he placed a hand on her shoulder and when she didn't move, he sat back on his heels and pushed some hair off her face. She had fallen asleep, but needing her to eat and drink something, he gave her shoulder a gentle shake, causing her to groan slightly and reluctantly open one eye.

"Please tell me you're waking me up for something more interesting than... MRE's." Her hand moved so that it rested against his knee and he felt an answering pull inside. He needed her touch right now, and while out here, in a very public domain it could only be limited to that, he eased down beside her and allowed her to snuggle into his arms. Placing his mouth close to here ear, he made her squirm when he spoke softly into it.

"What if I told you what I wanted to do to you right now... beginning with this..." and he murmured softly, causing a clutch of need to spasm in her stomach.

Giggling a little, she pushed herself up and reached for the coffee, looking down at him as he looked up at her with amused eyes.

"Don't wanna play, huh?"

"I have a competitive streak, Colonel. Kinda like to know there's a prize at the end of the... game."

He chuckled and pushed himself up so that they sat side by side on her sleeping bag, knees touching comfortably, and he handed her an MRE. She promptly wrinkled her nose up.

"This has to be one of the things I certainly don't miss about the military."

Teyla had overheard their conversation as she walked past to talk to Ronon, and stopped briefly.

"Do you wish you could go back, Jo? I understand that you had achieved a satisfactory ranking."

She shook her head at Teyla. "That wasn't my life, not really. It was my father's. He wanted me to sign up, steering me towards it from day one. And Jack. Don't forget Jack. He's always wanted me to join the airforce... Now that I know about this... I think he would have found a way for me to come here. Even if this hadn't happened."

John turned to look at her, a finger absently stroking the inside of her wrist. "What will you do when we find your father. Have you thought beyond that? If you don't go back to the airforce, what will you do?"

"Aaah, John. Therein lies the question. I'm a gal without a country, without an anchor - at the moment. I sorta burned my bridges back on earth.. and it would take a helluva lot of explaining to try and tell people what really went down. If I ever could?"

John's voice was soft. "Stay here... with us... with me. You've got magic hands, can fix anything, by your own admission. Jack'd find a way, hell - I'd find a way."

"Bridges, John. I have a few to cross... but yeah... there's some sort of ... peace, out here. Hard to explain. A few months of turmoil, and before that? I was still adrift in a way that I can't really explain. But here? Maybe I can find that anchor here..."

She leaned into his side, enjoying the feel of his hand lightly stroking her wrist, and ate the MRE, grimacing a little.


	29. Chapter 29 Into the night

CHAPTER 29 – INTO THE NIGHT

He covered her with his larger body as she lay down to sleep and she curled into him, pleased to have a shield against that cloying night air and feeling his even breathing in her ear as he fell asleep, she too let her dreams take her down until he had to relieve Ronon on night watch. She felt his body shift and ease out of the sleeping bag, and sighing a little lifting her face so that he could kiss her, then drifted back down again.

She was awakened a short time later by a hard hand over her mouth and nose and she panicked. Suddenly she couldn't breathe, and at the same time her legs were pinioned down and she felt something pressed against her neck and consciousness drifted slightly. There was the sensation of being lifted and a corner of her mind knew that she should call out and get the attention of John or one of the others, but she was too tired and her body had no desire to co-operate with the commands her mind attempted to send it.

She was lifted beyond the firelight, into the dark of the jungle and unable to scream or make any other sound, she looked up at the night sky, at a configuration of stars that was as alien as anything else she had encountered since she had arrived in Atlantis.

Trying to look at his face caused pain behind her eyes, and she shut them for a short while, letting the darkness creep closer for a short time, before it receeded of it's own accord.

Open again, and she saw him. Or at least a part of him. He was tall, had hair had sat just below his shoulder and a full growth of bed that covered filthy skin. But what she saw beyond that had her paralysis seeping away, and she struggled now, eyes fixed on the skin of the man who seemed only half human.

For part of his face had the same scaly texture that she had seen on the wraith in the laboratory.

Struggling now, she was able to cry out.

"Put me down – now. Damn it – if John and the others get wind that you're anywhere near their camp, they'll come after you – come after me. You won't get far. Put me down, and you can just leave. I won't tell them you were here..."

His eyes flicked down at her and she stiffened in surprise. She knew those eyes. She recognised the expression in those eyes. She had grown up looking into those eyes, at their kindness, at their love and sometimes at their anger.

The man holding her in his arms in the dark, cloying night on an alien planet, was her father.

"Daddy...?" Her voice came out a whisper now, and she stared up at him in fascination. Her father, and yet not her father. Human... and yet not. How much of the man was still there? For it had become clear that a part of him was no longer human.

He spoke, and she released a breath, realising that there was some semblence of lucidity and recognition. Which meant that there was hope.

"Hush, child. We'll get clear, and then we'll be safe. I saw him with you... I knew that I could rescue you under the cover of darkness. I tracked you most of the afternoon, but did not find the opportunity for rescue then. You'll be safe now."

"Daddy! You don't understand. Those men? They're here, with me. To rescue you. I know what happened. Jack... remember your friend Jack... he sent me a message, so that I knew. Knew that you had not died. They told me you were dead..." Her voice broke a little and looking into those eyes that were his eyes... yet not his eyes, she thought she saw a softening, and continued.

"I know that your ship was taken by a wraith vessel to Pegasus galaxy – you were part of a deal, technology and knowledge..."

"Don't trust them sweetheart..." he used his childhood term of endearment and she felt her spirits lift a little. He knew who she was. He knew what had happened to him... but caught up now in a conspiracy and a lie – he no longer knew who to trust.

"You must trust them. John... he wants to find you, bring you back. We know about the group on earth, we know about the deal... we know what they have tried to do with you."

He put her down sharply, but kept a firm hold on her arm.

"You have no idea what they did to me. For eight months. Eight months! No one came to find me. No one came to rescue me. I was abandoned by a government I have spent all my working life dedicating my service to. I was ready to die for my country. But I was not ready for this!"

He shook her now, and she felt her teeth rattle slightly. Looking into his eyes, she saw that he was slightly unfocused and she wanted to sink down onto the ground and cry. Cry for what these people had done to the strongest man she had ever known.

And knew hatred for her country, for her government, for allowing something like this to come to pass.

Lucidity was leaving him now, and she wondered if it came and went in stages. His grip on her was painful and he dragged her alongside him, pushing through the dense foliage relentlessly, so that bushes and branches scraped painfully against her skin.

"Daddy, please... slow down. You're hurting me. Bring him back out... the man who spent his life showing me right from wrong. You need to fight what's happening to you. Damn it, fight..."

She was crying now, both in pain and in futility. He was not listening. That part of him that was still human had been pushed down by the part that they had tried to turn him into. A monster, one of their own, an abomination. A human/wraith hybrid with the ability to think and act as a soldier and a man, and with the indomitable strength of a wraith. Human digestive system likely, so that the starvation issues that the wraith faced relentless would no longer be an issue. He was the result of eight months of their experimentation – wraith collaborating with humans and this sickened her more than anything else she could conceive of.

They had not only taken his brain and tried to recreate it, they had tried to turn him into something that supposedly combined the various strengths from both races.

But they had knowingly and cruelly made a monster. And she was now trapped here with him, on this planet. And unless she could get him to find the human and push him to the front, and try and reason with that human side? It was unlikely that she would survive the night.

At the moment? She was no longer his daughter.

And another more damning thought were spiralling through her head. John and Ronon and the others would come after her. They'd track him down. It might take them some time... but they would eventually track them down. And when they did, John would kill this man. He would see him as a monster, and not as the man who had raised her.

And they would kill him.


	30. Chapter 30 Gone

CHAPTER 30 – GONE

John sat with his back to the camp, letting the heat of the fire wash unneeded warmth across his face. He listened to the sounds of the jungle, alien and more than just a little disconcerting, and knew that the fire served more purpose that just comfort. It likely brought them some protection from the bugs and other nightlife that would otherwise decide that there was a smorgasbord of tasty delights out for their sampling.

He had stood up every ten minutes or so and stretched. This kept him from nodding off in the heat of the flames and gave him a chance to make sure all was well with the folks lucky enough to be getting some much needed sleep at the moment. He only had an hour left of his shift, then he would wake Teyla and would enjoy the thought of crawling back beside the warm body of his woman, and feel her arms wrap around him as she felt his warmth move tightly against her. This thought brought an uncomfortable stirring in his groin, and the sudden need to simply look down at her.

Moving away from the fire and toward the darkened end of the small clearing where she slept, he stifled a small chuckle. Perhaps if he was really quiet, he could have a little bit of fun...before sleep claimed him.

Amusement fled immediately. He stood looking down at her empty sleeping bag, and looked quickly around the clearing. There was no immediate sign of her and he knew that if she had needed to answer the inevitable call of nature, she would have come and seen him first. Not just gone off without saying anything.

He moved quickly to Ronon's sleeping form and it was only a second before the big man was on his feet, in defensive mode.

"She's gone, Ronon. There's no sign of her. I heard nothing! Nothing!" John was beside himself, wondering how she could have gotten out of here, either under her own steam or not, without him hearing something.

"You think she went off looking for him on her own?" Ronon crouched down on the ground beside her sleeping bag, his hand resting casually on the dirt. John knew that his actions were anything but casual. He was looking for tracks, a sign that a disturbance took place, a sign that she had been taken.

"If she has... let's not go there right now. Let's just say she won't sit for a week. Anything, Ronon?"

Teyla had awakened with their whispers and she was beside them in moments, followed by two of the marines, grabbing weapons out of habit.

"Sir?" One of the younger ones looked at John in query.

"Jo's disappeared. Tracks, Ronon?"

"Yeah... the same ones we saw in the jungle. No sign of a struggle. If there had been, you would have heard it. I would have heard it. He or it, managed to silence her then carry her out of here. See here... the footprints are heavier, he was definitely carrying something when he left."

"Aaah crap. What the hell is it?"

"Dunno Sheppard, but we gotta go after her before they get too far. When did you last sight her?"

John thought back. "About twenty minutes ago – they've not got too far a head start. Let's do this. I need three of you to remain at the campsite, with Rodney... just in case."

"Roger that, Colonel."

They shrugged quickly back into vests, and those that hadn't already – picked up weapons. But not before John was on the radio with Lorne, telling him what had happened. Just in case there were any unwanted and unexpected disturbances on their side of the planet. He reported none, and told the Colonel to keep in contact with him throughout the search and if necessary, Lorne and his teams would come to assist.

Ronon was already in the lead and tracking. There was an easy trail to follow and it didn't appear as if the person or thing who had taken her had made any effort whatsoever to hide it's tracks. At one point Ronon dropped down near the ground and lightly touched one of the bushes. His fingers came away wet, and sniffing them, he held them out for John to see.

"Blood."

"Damn it – whose?"

"Definitely human, and fresh. They're not that far ahead of us Sheppard. Let's push up the pace."

A half hour more and they saw signs of a struggle.

"He's put her down here. Indentations on the ground, flattened bushes. They've struggled and now here..." He got up quickly and moved away, calling over his shoulder at the others. "She's being dragged now. The bushes are flattened, it looks like she's fallen, and been dragged along for a short while. Then here? Back on her feet. At least we know she's under her own steam and still alive."

John just grunted. A thousand thoughts were spinning through his head. He took a moment just to hold himself still and close his eyes. Trying to imagine what she was thinking, and who the hell had taken her. Crept up silent and still towards their camp site, making no noise at all. John would have heard the slightest scuffle and he was having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he had simply heard nothing.

"Sheppard! Let's go. Sounds, up ahead!"

John moved then, falling in behind Ronon, hearing Teyla's heavy breathing as she came up behind him. She had said little but he had read the guilt and self condemnation in her eyes. Teyla had been sleeping close enough to Jo that she should have heard any signs of her being taken and John could see that she was berating herself for allowing it to happen. He took a moment to reassure her.

"It's not your fault Teyla. Whoever took her? Knew what they were doing, and the more I think about it, I suspect they were tracking us the whole afternoon. Those prints we saw earlier? They knew we were here... and waited for an opportunity to get her when all eyes were off her."

"Thank you for attempting to reassure me John, but I should have been more vigilent and I know that you tell yourself the same thing. It is who we are and we cannot change how we react or feel."

He had put out a hand then, and placed it on Teyla's arm, earning a small smile from her.

Now they followed Ronon as he moved quickly through the dense undergrowth. Up ahead, John heard noises of retreat and they pushed ahead faster, almost crashing into Ronon when he stopped suddenly, bringing up an arm in the signal to stop.

"See something, Ronon?"

"Up ahead, Sheppard. On the ground."

The light from John's P90 illuminated them. Jo was on the ground, on her knees and slightly hunched over. Standing over her was a tall man/creature, with longish hair and tattered clothing and John could see that Jo was somehow pleading with the man.

"Jo! Get away from him, now! I have you covered – go!"

John watched through his scope, waiting for her to move away so that he could get a clear shot. The man/creature turned around then, in the same instant that Jo leapt to her feet and threw herself in front of the man, effectively blocking John from firing.

"Jo, damn it! Get the hell away."

"John...don't shoot, please. Don't shoot. It's not what you think..."

Something raw and painful in her voice had him pausing and he sensed Ronon's hand begin to tighten on the trigger.

"Ronon... wait."

"Sheppard?"

"Something's not right. Stand down."

Keeping his weapon sighted on the man, John edged forward, noting that Ronon and Teyla held their positions and three of the marines took up semi circular positions around the pair. Effectively blocking them from running, ensuring that they were more or less surrounded.

In the light of the P90 scope light, John watched as the features of the man twisted. He was partly human, John could see that now, and partly something else. The clothing was in rags, but what there was he could recognise. Military and with a flash of understanding, John knew who stood in front of him.

"Barlow?"

The man grunted, and a hissing snarl came out of him, causing John to take an involuntary step backwards.

"John, please... he's not lucid right now. Don't shoot. Please. Sometimes he knows... others? He is something else then and you can't get through to him..."

He risked a glance at the woman who stood in front of her father, defending a man who had been taken from the edge of humanity and turned into something abominable. Saw the determination in those silver eyes that caught the light and stared unwaveringly in his direction. Then glanced again at the man she protected and saw the rage on his face, sudden and powerful as he picked up the woman and prepared to run.

"Stop, Barlow! Don't do this... I warn you – we will shoot. We will take you down. Put Jo down, Barlow – and walk away, and we'll take you back to Atlantis and get you some help. That's the way it has to go down. You know that."

"Daddy – please...do as he says. There is a wonderful doctor on Atlantis, one who will understand what has been done to you. Please...let us help you."

The features of the man twisted and the voice that came out was hard and gutteral and full of pain.

"You expect me to trust you? I have been violated by my own government and left here to rot. You'll not do the same thing to my daughter."

He went to grab her again, and she twisted, leaving a clear space and Ronon brought his weapon up and fired. A massive stun blast hit the Colonel squarely on the chest, catching Jo slightly and causing them both to go down, hard. The Colonel was immediately still, and Teyla rushed forward quickly, checking his pulse, while John dropped down onto the ground beside Jo.

Ronon had holstered his weapon and stood looking down. "Jesus Sheppard, she took part of that blast. I thought she was clear."

"Aah crap, Ronon. She's gonna have one hell of a headache when she wakes up, and one hell of a temper." He activated his radio. "Rodney? We're bringing in a guest for dinner. We found Barlow. He's alive. I want you to radio Lorne and tell him to get his team together and head back to Atlantis, then organise to get everything back onto the jumpers. We're coming in with wounded and we need to get straight back to Atlantis. Copy that?"

"Everything all right Sheppard?" Rodney's voice was a little hesitant, having heard something in the Colonel's.

"Just dandy Rodney... if you don't count the unpleasant surprise we just had..."

John had bent down again to pick Jo up, hefting her easily into his arms and looking down into her face. A woman who had crossed a galaxy to find her father and he marvelled at the amazing loyalty of human nature.


	31. Chapter 31 Hurdles to cross

CHAPTER 31 – HURDLES TO CROSS

They got them back to the jumper and found Rodney and the remainder of the teams waiting anxiously for them.

"Jesus, Sheppard. What the hell have they done to him? What the hell did he go through here...?"

Rodney was aghast, and stared down in horror at the face of the man who had began his journey in the milky way eight months ago testing F302's and had ended up three million light years away, only partly human and betrayed by a government he had pledged his allegiance to.

"He went through hell and back, Rodney. And I hope to god there's enough of the man left in there to salvage. Beckett's gonna have his work cut out for him. You radio'ed ahead?" John raised his eyebrows at Rodney, as much for an answer as to get him moving. He appeared rooted to the ground in front of Ronon who carried Barlow, effectively blocking him from entering the jumper.

"Uh huh... you sure it's safe to take him with us... on the jumper? He's not gonna flip on us or anything." Rodney was still looking down into his face with fascination and Ronon hissed an impatient breath and pushed past him.

"That stun'll keep him out for a while, and Ronon will secure him and will keep detail on him out the back. Jo took a shot of the stun as well, so you can imagine what sort of temper we're going to be dealing with when she wakes up. I've a good mind to restrain her as well... just for the safety of the others on board the jumper."

One look at John's face and Rodney realised that he only spoke partly in jest and Rodney knew why. She would not be happy when clarity once again took prime spot in her brain. And with the added knowledge of what had been done to her father? Rodney was not looking forward to being in her vicinity when she decided she was going to strike out at something.

They arrived back at Atlantis and John heard her before he saw her. Ronon had kept her out the back, just in case although he had not taken John's half jested remark about securing her. John wished that he had. She had launched herself at the big man, her face shadowed with pain and that pain had brought anger.

"You just had to shoot me. You couldn't shake that damn male filled testosterone need to bloody well shoot something. Give me that damn weapon. I'm gonna turn this on you and then you can see what it feels like... crap, my head..."

Her fists had slammed into his massive chest, ineffectual and he had had to bite down on the laughter, knowing that if she heard it, she would pick up his weapon and shoot him. She had a temper, sure – but she was a little more than just pissed right now. He grabbed her upper arms to hold her away, just as John left the pilot's seat and moved through to the back, and it took the Colonel to grab her around the hips and physically pull her away and attempt to calm her down.

Unfortunately, she wasn't having any of it. She simply launched herself out his his restraining hands and dropped down beside her father, who lay unconscious and handcuffed on the floor at Ronon's feet. Ronon and John exhanged a glance over her kneeling body.

"Daddy... wake up. We're here, in Atlantis. They'll take care of you... try to find out what they did to you. Carson? He's an amazing doctor..."

She didn't get to finish. Carson had arrived at the rear of the jumper with a gurney and gave her a sympathetic look.

"I appreciate the high regard lass, but this is pretty powerful genetic engineering they've been playing around with. If those organs I've been studying are anything to go by... Let's get him into a secure isolation area I've had set up. We can't take him to the infirmary – he's dangerous, lass. You need to admit that to yourself..."

"Carson? He's been locked up for months... you can't lock him up again. What he's been through..."

Carson met John's eyes and John saw the sympathy there, as well as the unspoken comment. They may very well have to restrain her as well.

Jo had leaned over so that she was resting her head against her father's chest and he eyes had closed. John simply bent and picked her up and was surprised when she didn't protest, then saw by her face that she was in more than just a little pain.

"We'll get you to the infirmary, sweetheart. Get you something for that pain. Then we're gonna have a little talk..."

She struggled then, to get down. "Let me go with him first... settle him in wherever he is taken. If he wakes up, I need to be there. I'm the only one that can get through to him at the moment. I don't need the infirmary."

"Yes you do Jo." Carson's voice was firm, and he looked over at her as he secured her father onto the gurney and prepared to leave. "Those stun blasts are painful and debilitating and I can give you something that will make your head not appear as if it is about to explode. Just ask these boys. They've all suffered a blast a time or two over the past few years. There's no weakness in admitting that they hurt. All right lass?"

"I'm going with him. No argument." Her stubborn little chin rose into the air and she had pushed all signs of pain from her face, and not looking at Ronon or John, she had followed Carson and her father, accompanied now by several armed marines.

The isolation room was comfortable, if a little sterile and he was transferred to a bed with secure leg and arm straps and it broke her heart a little to see him strapped down like that. How he must have been for the past few months as the wraith experimented on him. She knew that when he woke up, either in human mind or monster, he would be angry and he would be feeling betrayed, and she'd do whatever she could to ease those feelings into something manageable.

Ronon and John left her a little space. John was harbouring some anger of his own. At her, for her usual lack of self preservation, and at a system that had failed one of their own. He knew that Carson would have more success in getting through to her right now, and it wasn't until much later that he loaded up a tray with food and a hot drink, and entered the secure room, finding her small body crumbled at the side of his bed, head pushed at a punishing angle. She had either passed out or fallen asleep, and looking around the room John saw no sign of Carson, only two armed marines. He flicked his eyes at them, then motioned them out of the room. They could take a break while he was there. He was armed, and ready to pull no punches should the need arise.

He lay the tray down on a nearby table, noting that Barlow remained unconscious, whether still from the effects of Ronon's stun blast or from medication that Carson had given him, John didn't know. Placing a gentle hand on Jo's back, he kept it there until she moved her head, lifting it and blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her mind.

"Daddy...?" Puzzled eyes locked onto her father's form, as though she was having trouble processing how he had come to be there.

"He's still out, Jo... you need to eat something. Take a few minutes - he's not going anywhere."

She registered his presence then, and he saw something flash in those silver eyes, then it was gone. Anger? Disappointment? He wasn't sure what, but he intended to find out what it was, and grasping her upper arm, he drew her upward, relieved when she didn't fight him. It almost seemed as though all the fight had simply gone out of her, whether through exhaustion, or by something more complex. He hoped that she wasn't planning to take on the Trust on her own. He thought he had seen that look on her face before - not long after she had arrived. He drew her towards him now, and was a little puzzled when she came willingly into his arms, but felt a tension in her body that hadn't been there before. He made a mental note to give security detail a very discreet heads up. Trust was most certainly a two way street and she had not given hers yet 100 percent, and it appeared that he might have good reason to keep some of his own in check. Just in case.

"Eat, love...ok? Then we'll go and pay Carson a visit and see how his initial testing is going. If he gets sick of us, he'll simply throw us out."

He waited until she nodded, keeping her eyes slightly downcast. This would give Carson the opportunity to check her over as well. Subterfuge seemed to be a constant in his life at the moment, one way or another.

When she had eaten to his satisfaction, they checked on Barlow one more time, then leaving the security detail to watch over the human/wraith hybrid, he ushered her down to the infirmary and headed straight to the research laboratory that Carson and a team of his medical assistants spent their time when the hospital did not require their medical expertise.

Carson's head was bent over a microscope and he looked up with a distracted look on his face when they walked in.

"Colonel. Jo. I'm afraid I don't have any good news for you yet. It's too early. I've taken samples from your father, DNA, blood, urine, skin and swabs and we're breaking everything down into micro science to see if we can isolate what they used on him to assimilate the changes. So far, we have wraith DNA. But I can't fathom how they managed to get it to gel with the human DNA."

"Isn't wraith derived from human originally?" Fascinated, Jo leant over Carson's shoulder, and John watched from a distance. He was more interested in her body language and the subtle changes in emotion that were in play across her face. He understood that he would need to be vigilant where she was concerned.

"That is correct, lass. But it has evolved over thousands of years. They have forced an evolvement in a short time, that appears to be working - at least by outward appearances. He still retains some of the human traits, and has taken on many of the wraith ones."

"And the ATA gene - is it still active?"

Surprised, Carson looked at her, understanding her line of thinking.

"Yes, it is. That means something, doesn't it?"

"John?"

She had fielded the question to him, and he moved forward now, standing close behind Jo and feeling her body tense slightly as she registered his nearness. And wondered again at that.

"We know that they can't use our synthetic ATA gene... therefore they have no way to access ancient technology. By advancing their own DNA in such a way to incorporate the human form of ATA gene, rather than the synthetic one, they will for all intents and purposes, have access to ancient technology. That sound about right, doc?"

"Scary, lad - but yes. Essentially. They are speeding up a process that would take thousands of years to evolve on it's own."

"What are they using to speed it up?" Jo had relaxed her body enough to lean back slightly into John's and he took the invitation, wrapping a hand over her hip and gently rubbing.

"That would be the sixty four thousand dollar question, Jo. I cannot isolate the components. It is complex, and it will take me a lot of time."

"Time is something we may not have, Carson..." Sam had entered the research lab, and the look on her face was serious.

"Colonel?"

Flicking her gaze between the three people crowded around the microscope, she relayed what she had recently learnt from General O'Neill.

"He's on his way people - should be in the mid way station as we speak. The deal between the Trust and the Wraith? Most assuredly on the cards. In a nutshell... The Trust give the wraith a modified F302 and a pilot with engineering and asgard technology knowledge as well as the ancient gene, and the wraith will provide an army of supersoldiers. Half wraith, half human."

John sucked his breath in with surprise. "Seems like the Trust are getting the better end of the bargain. What does that give the Wraith?"

"More than you think John... it gives them access to the ATA gene, Asgard technology which they will use to enhance their weapons and ships and this will in turn give them the ability to physically reach the next galaxy with the addition of long range hyperspace capabilities."

"A new feeding ground..." muttered John.

"Exactly, John. Carson? Has our patient woken up yet?" Sam deliberately humanised the person they had brought back from that planet, having seen herself, that Jo was almost on the edge and surmised that it would take little to tip her over.

"I've kept him sedated for now, Colonel. It seemed safer. For everyone concerned. He'd only hurt himself, and in his moments of lucidity, he may very well be in pain from the genetic enhancement. Until I know more what we are dealing with, his body needs to be kept calm. Jo? I want to check you over, lass. You took a jolt from Ronon's weapon as well I understand, and we know you're a tough wee thing, but you're pushing a lot away right now, and I need to make sure you're handling it."

He had met John's eyes above the lady in question, and seen the worry there,then the subsequent relief when he had been able to exert a little pressure on the hip that he had been caressing and head her in the direction of the infirmary.

She succumbed to his poking and prodding, and looked a little suspiciously at the open doorway, through which Sam and John had disappeared. She knew that they had gone to talk in private, and a part of her knew that as head of their respective city areas, this was a given, but an unsubstantiated part of her mind suspected they had plans for her father, and would not take on the Trust. Not in the way that she wanted.

"You holding up ok lass? I give you full marks for bravery... it must have taken a lot out of you to see your father like that."

"Aaah, Carson... you have no idea. John has no idea, either. He keeps looking at me as though I'm going to snap... and yeah, maybe I am. But it's why I came out here. The very reason... and I found him. They were ready to leave him here, abandon him... do you know what that must feel like for him? God...I just want to take the biggest weapon I can find and fire it up and storm into one of their meetings and just open fire. No mercy. No second thoughts..."

She pushed herself off the bed, eyes blazing and angry and Carson flicked a concerned glance at the door. He was worried. She spoke about what her father had gone through, but it had been as much on her. To make it this far, on her own... and she still refused to give up the reins and let the Colonel and his team do their work. She still insisted on holding those reins, even though her hands were blistered and raw...

And while those thoughts went through his head, she had gone. Simply run from the room, and Carson was left fingering his radio urgently, knowing that she'd be a danger to herself unless someone found her soon.


	32. Chapter 32 To find the trust

CHAPTER 32 –TO FIND THE TRUST

"Are you serious? She's taken a damn jumper? She has no idea how to fly a jumper... and no one thought to tell me she even had the gene?"

John was beside himself. He had come back into the infirmary a short time later after meeting with Sam, then going down to the gate room to await the arrival of General O'Neill. The General had been looking forward to seeing his goddaughter and was even more excited about the return of his old friend and was cautiously optimistic that Carson would be successful in somehow reversing what had been done to him.

They had entered the infirmary, and one look at Carson's face had John's eyebrows drawing ominiously together in a dark forbidding line.

"I didn't really get more than a minute with her, Colonel. She ran out of here like she had the hounds of hades chasing her. I assumed she was heading back to see her father, but I have to admit. I didn't like that look in her eye."

"Dammit!" John spat out an oath, and all but forgetting he had a general in tow, he turned and marched towards the area where Barlow was being held.

"Sheppard...? The tone of your voice would indicate that you are perhaps having disciplinary issues with the young lady..."

John's dark glance shot sideways to the General, unsure whether he spoke with a sarcastic tongue or not. One did not always know which side he was going to roll.

"Ah, yes General. That would be an affirmative. I've come to the conclusion that the airforce is most definitely a better place without her disobedient and irreverent person in it..." He huffed a breath, not even bothering to temper it down for the General, family friend or not.

"Hmmm, Sheppard. That has a familiar ring to it... could be that I'm referring to the certain jacket of another young airforce officer...?"

Again that hard glance in the General's direction. "Sir?"

"You and Jo, Sheppard. You're not that different. Both extremely intelligent, good at what you do and with a casual arrogance that comes from knowing that you don't need to prove anything to anyone else. Those same traits got you into a few tight spots back on earth. Here? I imagine you need them. So... you two have gone head to head a few times...?"

Sam, beside him – spluttered a laugh, and the General's look that was slanted in her direction had her shrugging her shoulders. It was not her story to tell. If John wanted it out there to the General that his was involved with his goddaughter...then, that was up to him.

"You might say that... sir." John muttered, then closed his mouth on the subject. He was not ready to go there just yet.

They arrived at Barlow's room, indicated to the security detail to stand down and entered the room. He heard O'Neill's hiss intake of breath at seeing his old friend lying on that bed, half human and half...something else.

"Ah crap, Barlow...what the hell did those guys do to you. You musta thought we'd given up on you...sorry, old friend." He moved closer to the bed and rested his hands on the blanket, trying to find something of his friend in there.

"Hell... I did my best, chased down every lead I could, but they shut me down every damn inch of the way. I can't even get to them now. They're shut up tighter than a drum, and no one – no one! - is letting me get close to them. I have no names. I have no way to hit them where it hurts. I need you to fill in some of the blanks, then maybe we can do this... Barlow?"

Jack had slumped down in the chair next to the bed and Sam saw immediately the weariness that settled over the General's features. It had to hurt, and hurt hard, seeing his friend like this and knowing he had not been able to do a damn thing to stop it.

She put a hand on his shoulder, and left it there. "Not your fault Jack... you're the only one that bothered to fight, you and Jo. You want to rail at something? Try that damn government who constantly take with one hand while they pretend to give with the other. Someone there, knows what's happening. That's the only way they can keep this so under the radar. The Trust has to have government support at some level. You need to find that level, and that's your back door."

"Telling me my job, Colonel Carter?"

"Lighting a firecracker under that self pity, General O'Neill..." and this earned a sharp bark of laughter from Jack.

John had let their banter wash over him. Jo was not here. He moved to the back of the room and clicked on his radio.

"Sheppard here. Under no circumstances are you to let Miss Josephine Barlow through that gate. Am I clear?"

His voice carried over to Sam and the General and they looked up sharply.

The reply from the control room had John not even bothering to check his explosive outburst.

"Aah, sir? Does that include the use of a jumper...sir?"

Sam had risen and quickly calmed John with a look. It was no use railing at the poor unfortunate gate technician, who was only doing his job.

"Airman. How long ago did she take the jumper and did she leave any directions about where she was going?"

"No, ma'am. She left about a half hour ago, said that she had your authority. I'm sorry ma'am – after that we had news from the mid way station that the General was about to arrive, and things got a little hectic around here."

"It's ok Airman, not your fault and I'm sure Colonel Sheppardl is aware of that..." she gave John a hard stare as she said this and she knew that he'd apologise to the junior officer once things calmed down.

"Dammit Sam... why didn't I know she had the gene...?"

"Because she asked me not to tell you..." Rodney stood in the doorway of the room, looking a little guilty.

"You knew Rodney, and you said nothing? And why keep it a secret?"

"Said she wanted to surprise you with something. I assumed it was to do with some of the technology she'd been working on, some of the Asgard enhancements. She fitted some of them into jumper two the other day, before all this excitement stirred the silt around – but we haven't had the chance to give them an official test."

John clicked his radio again.

"Airman... please tell me she didn't take jumper two..."

His reply had John clamping a hand to his face, and running it none so gently downward. Dragging his eyes back up he saw Rodney grimace.

"So, Sheppard... I guess she's testing those enhancements... about now?"

"I'll be testing my hand on her backside when I catch up with her. Sam? I'm going to put a team together and try and track her down. She left no instructions with control. They have no way to track her, and I don't know what information she's been secretly squirrelling away. Maybe she's gone back to one of the planets where either her father, or we, were held. I don't know what other information she could be working with."

At his first comment, O'Neill's eyes had sharpened, then he had seen the look on Sheppard's face and known immediately that his fiery goddaughter had managed to get under the skin on this Colonel,and fought down a chuckle, wishing him luck. She would be a handful, of that there was no doubt and while he loved her dearly, he knew that she had not been very successful in the romance department, likely because there were few men who could take her on. He suspected that Sheppard might well be the one to give it a go.

"Go, John. The General and I are going to get Carson to bring Barlow out of his medicated sleep. We're going to try some drugs to keep him lucid, and see if we can get anything information wise out of him. We'll keep you posted."

"Colonel?"

John had almost gotten to the door when the General stopped him. "Sir?"

"Good luck... and I'm referring to more than just finding her...if you get my drift..."

John's eyebrows shot upwards momentarily, then he allowed himself a small smile.

"Thanks, sir. I suspect luck may play more than just a part in taming this particular female."

Jack's laughter followed him out of the room.


	33. Chapter 33 Following her instincts

CHAPTER 33 – FOLLOWING HER INSTINCTS

She'd never flown a jumper... but, hell – how hard could it be? She'd watched carefully, both Lorne and John fly them, and knew that as long as one had the gene, and had a more than just a little common sense and an idea of where they were going... then the ship more of less did the rest. Not that she'd dare voice that particular concept to either Lorne or John. And she'd likely reserve further judgement until she'd managed to actually get it into the air.

Jumper two. She'd spent a little time with Rodney, and this was their experiment. With a few little added extras that even Rodney had not been made privy to. A special emergency beacon that she had discreetly hooked up to Rodney's computer, so that when the time was right she could let them know where to come and pick them up... the Trust. Because she knew where they were... or the top players anyway.

When her father had dragged her through that forest, that still partly human part of him had rambled, and she listened. Carefully. And what she had remembered was a gate address. P92T34. He'd recited it over and over, and she had filed it away in her memory, and before heading for the jumper bay, she had detoured down to the data room and run a search of her own. It had not surprised her to come up with nothing. And it would not surprise her to learn that this information had likely been deliberately erased at one time, to protect the identity of the men who for all intents and purposes – thought they controlled the game.

Josephine Barlow – woman without a country, and a girl now with a final mission to complete? She was going to be the one to bring them down. For her father. For herself. And on behalf of all those back on earth who had been cast out into the wind by their government.

"Ok, jumper two... how about you help me out a little here. I'm going to give this my best shot, and you, sweetheart? Are going to take me where I want to go. A symbiotic relationship..." she muttered to herself, casting her eyes over the controls, then flicking her gaze back out the window, making sure that she was still unobserved.

"First command... open the jumper bay doors... got that? Oh... oh... it worked... thank you, thank you... I promise I will be kind, we can do this..." she was smiling now and keeping her hands firmly on the controls she willed the jumper to rise, giggling a little when it gave a sudden jerky motion that almost had her tipping into the walls to the left, and carefully mind straightened her up, keeping her thoughts steady and centre, focusing on getting the jumper clear of the bay and into the darkening skies above Atlantis. Then she was free of the city, hovering gracefully – yes, gracefully – in the air above the city, looking down at the tip of the highest spire.

Then she looked upward and thought …. "punch it, baby!" and with a shriek of sheer delight, she felt the thrust as jumper two did just that, responding to a new mistress who had a strong mind of her own and the ship all but purred her own delight and exherted her own womanly wiles.

When the initial thrill of flying the ship began to ease, she thought the coordinates of the planet at the jumper and her eyes gleamed with satisfaction as the inboard tracking system registered the star system on the screen and clearly showed the progress made between Atlantis and her requested destination. The technician in her marvelling at the control, at the mind interface and the sheer wonder of operating machinery that had been designed by an amazingly superior race of people, who even now, influenced her own galaxy in a way that no one on earth would ever know. Except that elite group who were privy to the knowledge of the stargate.

She arrived in the atmosphere over the planet and did the same as she had seen John and Lorne do. Took the jumper lower and did a flyby over the planet, looking for any signs of life, knowing immediately that she was in the right place. Her father had not only been brought here originally, but this was the facility used by the Trust to store all offworld artifacts, minerals, power crystals and other components that they had taken from planets in the Pegasus galaxy, ready to be shipped back to earth.

And Jo had worked out how they managed to bypass Atlantis as a means to get everything back to earth. It had not been too difficult, and she knew that given time, Rodney and the others would quickly come to the same conclusion.

The Prometheus. The reason why the captain's report never made the light of day. Part of the crew of the Prometheus were made up of the Trust, and in the past two years this ship had begun to make regular runs between the milky way galaxy and Pegasus. She had learnt this, while in the mid way station. A particularly chatty engineer had been happy to fill her in on it's movements, and she had filed this information away, in case that it had needed to be brought into the light of day at a later time.

Her theory? The Trust had established an offworld base in Pegasus and they maintained a relationship with the wraith. Her father and the 302's? One part of a multi faceted plan. The Trust intended to gain alien technology for application on earth, in the private sector. And the wraith? Wanted a new feeding ground.

And it appeared a double cross was on the cards. This gave Jo the much needed time to bring this down, or at least set the trap. She'd leave a little fun for the Colonel and the teams from Atlantis, and she's even throw some scraps back the way of earth. Arrogance did not factor into her decision. She felt it was her fight – at least in the beginning and the risks were hers to take although now? She did acknowledge in the back of her mind that what had started as revenge for her father's incarceration, now emcompassed a whole lot more. She'd do her bit, then the special beacon could be activated allowing the second wave to come in and finish the job.

As she skimmed over the planet, she did feel one small fissure of regret. This action of taking on the Trust alone? Would not just earn her a prime spot in John's bad books, not to mention all of Atlantis... but it would likely erase her from his books altogether. She doubted that he'd forgive her for this.. but when it came down to it? It was her loyalty to her father on the line... and she had made that clear to him from the beginning.

"Gotcha... you bastards are mine..." Her eyes lit up as she flew the now cloaked jumper over a well hidden city amidst a dense growth of forest, almost hidden from prying eyes, so well blended were the buildings. No tall structures, all low and spreading for several miles along the ground. Paydirt.

And a small part of her toyed with the thought of simply activating that beacon now, and setting the craft down away from the city and allowing the others to come. Heroism and a giant chip on her shoulder was one thing. Stupidity and lack of foresight was another. And so with logic and desire warring inside her for dominance, she missed the fact that her last flyover had not gone unnoticed, cloaked or otherwise. She was being tracked and if she had known to keep her focus on the information screen in front of her, that information was clearly shown. But without that knowledge, she did not notice that a missile was locked onto the ship and it wasn't until she caught the trailing fire as it arced up toward her ship and felt the rocketing explosion as it connected with the exterior left as she belatedly gave the control to the ship to bank hard right. She knew that her control of the ship was more or less gone, with likely operating systems now defective, and could only watch in horror as the ship continued down towards the ground, passing rapidly through the higher canopy of trees which slowed it's descent a little.

Some sort of instinct kicked in, and she assumed the crash position as shown in airline safety videos across the world, and waited for her world to end. But not before she managed to activate the emergency tracking beacon.

She'd give John and his team one shot to finish it.


	34. Chapter 34 Plans in pieces

CHAPTER 34 – PLANS IN PIECES

Lorne and John liased back in the jumper bay after searching the respective planets where they had run into both the wraith and the suspected Trust members. There was no sign of jumper 2 or any other activity for that matter. Sam and Jack had met them in the jumper bay and they saw John's weary posture and knew immediately that things had not gone well.

"There's no sign of her Sam, General, and I doubt either of those planets were her intended destination. She found out something, either from Barlow, or through the data base, and stupidly, she tried to keep it to herself and through some form of extremely misplaced loyalty to her father, and sense of personal grievance, she has decided to take these people on herself. I don't even want to try and get into her mind. I couldn't even begin to follow her reasoning."

It was this resolute disgust that Sam found most disconcerting. Yes, Jo was extremely irresponsible and had shown signs of downright stupidity in going off in this matter. But John needed to step back and perhaps put himself in her position, and she doubted that he would have done differently, had the shoe been on the other foot. Seems like the young lady and her Colonel, were not that different, and it was these similarities that were going to cause the most dissention between them.

Rodney came hurtling into the jumper bay then, his hand held computer waving theatrically in front of him. John ran a hand down his face, about to snap at anyone who came up with one more platitude.

"Sheppard! Sam... General...I might have something. Someone's been playing around with my computer, and if I'd hazard a guess? I think Jo might have input something in here..."

John's eyes flicked sharply to Rodney. "A backdoor? A safety net? 'Cause that woman's gonna need more than a safety net when I get my hands on her..."

Jack sent John a warning look which he promptly ignored. This would not be between the General and himself when this whole situation was... resolved. There would be only two players, and he was not sure yet which one of them would be standing at end game.

"Could be, Sheppard. Something came up a few minutes ago. It appears to have been activated remotely and it looks to me like it's some sort of emergency beacon."

John was across the room in minutes, leaning over Rodney's shoulder. "Connected to what? Can you tell?"

"Jumper two... it would seem so, everyone. It looks as though young Jo has managed to install some sort of beacon and interfaced it with my computer. She didn't go into this as half cocked as you think Sheppard... she went in knowing exactly where she was going, and knew that there was a very real possibility that she could step into the firing zone. She's found a way to let us know where she is, and that she needs help."

John made to grab for the computer, but Rodney held it out of his reach. "I'm going to interface it with the main computer in the control room. We'll track her from there... then we can do a data base check of her location. We'll be able to tell whether she did the same thing as her search signature will still be accessible."

"Let's do it Rodney!" John was already halfway up the stairs to the control room before Rodney had managed to huff another breath, and simply shrugging his shoulders at the others, he had turned and followed the Colonel.

It didn't take them long to retrieve the information they needed, and John was immediately on edge, needing action and his terse words to Sam indicated that he was holding himself tightly on the brink.

"John... we need to take this one step further before we action that rescue mission. The data base comes up empty with details of that planet, and I agree with Rodney. It does look like the information has simply been erased. She got those co-ordinates from somewhere, and I'm thinking that it's from her father. We need to go into this with more information than she had, or whatever has happened to her? Will happen to us. My suggestion? We get Carson to administer something to Barlow that will allow him lucidity for a short time, and hope that the human part is enough to push through. We can get the information from him, and that'll give us a decent plan to go in there, get the girl, and hopefully bring these guys down."

"The Trust?" Rodney was unhooking his computer, and looked up at the anger in Sam's voice.

"Can't be anyone else, Rodney. They went under the radar on earth, about a year ago. The General has been tracking them and when they just blipped off the radar, alarm bells starting ringing. They were up to something, and likely it was not going to be good news for earth. Our previous dealings with them have always been in the milky way galaxy only, and it was a logical assumption of recent to assume that they were no longer content with this, and have set their sights on the Pegasus galaxy. They needed a way back and forward. If not using the gate, and we know that they haven't... then only transportation is the Prometheus. So we need to get out of Barlow what he knows. Then we go after Jo."

"Sam? You're suggesting we just leave her out there to hang?"

"We'll be the ones hanging, John – if we go in with the same information that she has. We need more. Who rescues, the rescuers...? Hmmm?"

She turned then, and activated her radio. "Carson. We need Barlow lucid and I don't care how you do it. Give him whatever drugs you think will do the job, hell – he's not going to be any worse off than he already is, until you can find a way to reverse what they've done to him. We need information from him and we need it now."

They met Carson in the room where Barlow was being held, and once again the security detail was asked to stand down. Carson did not look happy, John was quick to register that, and he assumed that the cocktail of drugs that Carson had managed to come up with in the short time that he'd been allowed, was not ideal, nor was it of any benefit to his patient's health.

"Colonel's, General... I have to say, I don't like this. I don't agree with what you want to do, and while you'll likely ignore my protests, I'd be remiss if I didn't make my position very clear. These are powerful drugs. They will counteract the wraith DNA, which at the moment, is the stronger of the two found in the Colonel. But it can only push it back for a short time, and I haven't had the time to test it. I don't appreciate being put on the line like this to fast track a drug that is just not ready. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Carson – and we apologise for putting you in this position. We have no choice. Jo's out there, taking on these guys by herself, and the fact that she's somehow managed to activate an emergency beacon? A fairly safe assumption that she is in trouble. We are out of time. We need the information that Barlow has, and the only way we'll get it out of him is while his human state is the stronger."

John stood behind the doctor, taking in the Scotsman's tense posture and watched as he arranged vials and hypodermic needles on a small table, opening up his hand held computer to check formulas and dosage. He laid a hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"Don't worry Colonel, I'll give you your time with the human side. I just hope that it doesn't cause irreparable damage to the poor man. I know he would likely willingly offer himself in order to save his daughter, just as she has for him. But me, Colonel? I'm a doctor and my mandate is to try to save all lives, not just a few."

He fell silent, and when his medication was ready, he injected it directly into the drip line that was already established. Then stood back and waited, not knowing how long the medication would take to have some effect.

Fortuntely it was not long. Barlow's eyes shot open with startling intensity and they flickered quickly around the room, taking in the semi circle of people that stood around his bed.

"Jo...where's Jo..." His voice was cracked as were his lips, and Carson reached out for the glass of water that was near his bed and brought it to him lips, allowing him to take small sips.

"Easy does it Colonel. You'd had some massive trauma and your body is attempting to assimilate two different DNA structures. We may not have long, so there is some information that we need. To help Jo."

Again those eyes, so like Jo's – gray and very intense, flickered around the room, coming to rest on Colonel Sheppard.

"Please... where's Jo."

John stepped closer to the bed. "That's why we're here, Barlow. She's gone after them, the one's that took you. The Trust. We need the information you carry in you, the planet where you were originally taken and likely offworld base for the Trust. Can you tell us where it is, give as an address? It's the only way we can get in and get her out."

"Ah Jo... a chip off the old block, girl... they'll kill her, you know that, don't you?"

"She's got the gene, Barlow – just as you do. And she's got a lot more knowledge than you think she has... so maybe, they'll consider doing more than just killing her. If you get my drift." John deliberately kept his voice harsh, wanting to shock Barlow into giving them the information they needed.

"Ah, crap... was afraid of that." He shut his eyes, pain streaking across his face, and Carson quickly picked up another needle and let that one feed into the drip line.

"Morphine..." he said quietly as the last drop was administered. "The DNA changes within his system causes massive internal confusion, which equates to a hell of a lot of pain. This should take the edge off... "

"Barlow! We need that information. Now. Without it? Jo will likely die and I'm sure you don't want that on your conscience."

"Colonel..." The General's voice was like thunder and the warning growl should have been heeded but it wasn't.

"With all due respect, General – this needs to be done, and it needs to be said. We have to find her soon, or it will be too late."

"Jack...s'ok... I won't let her die. P92T34. the address for the Trust offworld base. Be careful going in... they have technology you don't have, courtesy of their wraith collaboration. Cloaked ships won't escape their radar, so do not fly over the city. Stay within a two click radius before you put the ship down. Their numbers are not great as they don't expect much in the way of resistance. It is a very hidden base, and is off the radar both here and back in milky way. Be careful Jack... go... bring my girl back..."

He faded then and his body suddenly convulsed.

"I can't hold the wraith side of him down any longer, so I'm going to sedate him again. I hope you got what you needed people, because that's all the time you're going to get."

With his face set in angry lines, Carson administered the sedative and they watched as the face of Colonel Barlow at last fell into peaceful lines again.

John was impatient. "Ok, we have our intell. Now we go." Without waiting for their response he clicked his radio.

"Lorne? Those teams ready? I'll be in the jumper bay in ten... we're gonna go find my girl..."


	35. Chapter 35 Under the radar

CHAPTER 35 – UNDER THE RADAR

Sheppard and Lorne took Barlow's words under advisement and did not fly over the settlement that they were quick to locate. They had arrived at the planet and ascertained through jumper interface, where the life signs on the planet were located, and unlike Jo, who was not familiar with exactly what the jumper could provide for her in terms of information, they were able to locate the city this way and avoid flying directly over it.

They established a perimeter using the jumper's interface, however did not set the jumpers down. John wanted to do a flyover of the surrounding area. He had a bad feeling that something had happened to Jo and the jumper she had been flying. If she had not been aware of the flyover issues, then likely she had done just that, and if they had detected the ship, it was possible that it had been shot down.

Hence activating the emergency beacon.

It was not long before he found signs of the crashed jumper. He was on the radio to Lorne in seconds.

"Lorne? You seeing that?"

"Roger that, Colonel. Looks like something big cut a line through that forest down there. Think it's a jumper?"

"A part of me does... but another part of me would rather it wasn't." He shook his head as though he could clear the image of her down there, and felt Teyla's hand rest on his shoulder offering some sort of comfort. His team was with him, and he was glad of their support now. This was not something he would willingly chose to do without them, and he flicked a glance now at Ronon in the second seat, watching the big man look intently out the window.

"What do you think, Ronon?"

"Set the jumper down in that clearing over there. We can foot it back to where the jumper likely came to a stop... can't see any sign of burning which means that the ship didn't explode."

John felt that small sliver of hope push through him. She was a competent engineer, hell – more than that, she had magic hands. She would have worked out the interface on that jumper within minutes and even if she didn't know all the ins and outs intimately, by the time she had arrived at this planet, it was likely that she had a pretty good understanding of jumper technology. If that ship had been hit, he had to hold out the confidence that she somehow found the way to set it down.

Without killing herself.

He took Ronon's suggestion, and waiting until Lorne had set his own jumper down, they liased before heading into the forest to find the jumper. They had seen no sign of unfriendlies, so either they had managed to come in successfully under the radar, or a trap was in place right now and they were about to walk into it.

"Sheppard?"

"Yeah, Rodney. What is it?" A little impatient now, he turned back to the scientist who was situated somewhere near the middle of their single file group that had just entered the heavily forested area.

"I'm picking up some strong energy readings. In that direction." With a negligent flick of his hand he indicated an area to their right, and raising an eyebrown in Lorne's direction, he turned the group around, and started towards it.

"Any heads up on what sort of energy we're talking about, Rodney? You know how I hate going in blind..."

"Trying, Sheppard, but there's a lot of interference with the trees. It is strong, and it doesn't follow a specific pattern that we have registered previously on other worlds. I can't tell yet if it's man made or coming from the planet itself."

"Any chance it's coming from the downed jumper?" Ronon aimed his words at Rodney's back. The scientist was walking in front of him, a little too slowly for Ronon's liking and there was always that somewhat insistent temptation to plant one of his size 13 boots in Rodney's ass. A times he found he almost gave into that urge. He spoke a different language as far as Ronon was concerned, jibberish – and seemed to hold little regard for those with a lesser sized brain than himself. Which was pretty much all of mankind.

"There is always a chance Ronon." Rodney shot his answer over his shoulder to the Satedan, having no idea of the dark thoughts that Ronon was aiming his way. If he had, likely he would have moved up ahead so that he was behind Sheppard.

They pushed through some particularly dense underbrush and there it was. Jo's jumper. It had taken an obvious hit to the rear and John knew immediately that some of the operating systems were damaged.

Teyla's voice was firm. "She managed to set the jumper down John. That required incredible ability. I know you are angry at her right now, but this could have ended differently, had it been someone else in control of that ship."

John turned furious eyes towards Teyla, his anger not directed at her, Teyla knew that immediately, but at the woman who had flown the jumper with such reckless abandon.

"We don't know the ending yet Teyla. I'm too damn scared to step into that jumper – terrified of what I will find in there. And even more terrified of what I won't find. So that anger? It's gonna ride me hard for now, and when I find her, if she's alive – and she better damn well be, because I have some things I want to say to her – I'll make sure she knows exactly how stupid she was."

Lorne threw a concerned look at the Colonel. His words were spoken in anger sure, but Lorne sensed the undercurrent, and knew they also were spoken in fear. So it was Lorne who moved quickly toward the rear door of the jumper, and it was Lorne who stepped on board and sent back the bad news to John.

"Aahhh, Colonel? It's either the bad news or the good... that's yours to decide. But she's not here. There's a bit of blood, hell – make that a lot of blood. Likely a head wound, the blood in on the controls and given the angle that this ship came down, then she would have taken a nasty hit to the head. But if she's not here... she's alive, and that means she's either out there somewhere waiting for us, or they've got her."

It was almost as though Lorne had taken command and John wondered briefly if he should perhaps stand down on this one and leave Lorne to make those decisions. He was too close, too emotionally involved and there was a very real possibility that he would make the wrong call for his team, based on an emotion he felt for a woman that did not deserve it. Not right now, anyway.

Lorne must have looked into his eyes and read his mind. He stepped up to John and clapped him hard on the shoulders.

"It's yours for now Colonel. But know this – if it gets too much, I'm there to take the slack. It's not a sign of weakness,but one of strength when you can admit that the decisions you make are not in the best interests of others."

He smiled gratefully at the Major, then gave the signal to move out. His gut feeling was telling him that she had been taken into custody by the Trust or she would have found a way to contact them by now. So this mission? Was now a rescue mission as well as an offensive mission. And he hoped that one did not get in the way of the other.


	36. Chapter 36 In no uncertain terms

CHAPTER 36 – IN NO CERTAIN TERMS

Her lights had more than just dimmed. When that jumper hit they had simply gone out. For a short time anyway. She had attempted to keep some sort of control as it crashed through the thick forest and the dizzying speed that the branches and trees had whipped past the jumper's window had her shutting her eyes momentarily, affecting her ability to control the ship. She had regained some small amount of control at the last minute and the ship had responded sluggishly, managing to slow the speed and angle the descent so that when it hit the earth, it continued forward in it's momentum, gradually decreasing speed and eventually coming to a hard and very painful standstill in front of an extremely large tree.

That was the last thing Jo had seen - for several minutes anyway. Her head had smashed down onto the control pane – hard, and the blackness had been immediate. A part of her had welcomed in, and letting it wash over her, her body had simply relaxed, head resting on the control panel, eyes closed as blood leaked out in alarming amounts.

At the edges of her consciousness she had heard voices. Two men, and she had felt the touch of one as her head was lifted and someone attempted to prise her eyelid open.

"She's alive, but if she bleeds out anymore, that'll quickly change. We need to get her back to the city, have Jenks take a look at her. Might be too late though."

Lucidity fought that darkness that wanted to embrace her, and a part of her wanted that darkness more than anything. She hurt all over and it seemed that she was all out of luck. All out of anything. She felt herself being lifted, and the jarring motion of that movement had her crying out.

"So the princess is awake, hmmm? Maybe now you can tell us where the hell your father is... that little deal we have on the table? Is gonna fall over if we don't find your father. Our... allies... are not happy, and if they don't get him back, they'll be needing a replacement... someone who can offer the same sweet deal..."

She forced words to come, hating the sound of that voice, at the indifference she heard in it. Human life, he talked about another human as though it was of no consequence to him.

"He's safe... you and your wraith friends can't hurt him anymore..."

They were moving quickly through the forest now and Jo knew that once they arrived in the city, it would be difficult to try and escape. Her best chance was out here, in the forest. As if sensing her thoughts the man's grip tightened and he bent his head down close to her ear.

"Don't bother trying to escape. There's nowhere to go out here, and we've just implanted you with a tracking device, which is what we should have done with your father. Hindsight... They say the biggest thrill is in the hunt... so think very carefully about any plans you may have for escape."

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time. Cold and with no emotion. No military uniform, nondescript clothing, shaven and if not for the inflection in his voice, he could have been any man in any galaxy. But the way he spoke, she knew that he was from earth, and one of the Trust members.

Wanting to rattle his cage a little, she keep her eyes on his face, even when his returned to the path in front of him.

"I know who you are. The Trust...we're closing in on your group as we speak. Back on earth? What do you think General O'Neill has been doing? Who the hell do you think sent me out here? You are all fools, sitting on your thrones and thinking that none of our rules of humanity apply to you. All fools are quickly brought to their knees, and the Trust? Will be no exception."

She was rewarded with a flash on anger... and something else... in those cold eyes as they dropped back down to her again. His voice was almost a caress as he spoke again, send sharp spikes of unease along her spine.

"If you think you've uncovered all the cards, sweetheart? Think again. A top dealer never reveals all his cards... and generally, you'll find he's sitting on an ace."

They arrived in the city and she was quickly taken to a small building near the centre. There were very few people and Jo had learnt from her father that the city was used mainly for storage of goods procured offworld and a planning base for members of the Trust. Important meetings were held here and more than once the wraith had sat the same table as Trust members, hammering out the details of the deal that was currently on the table

_A summit, of sorts _she had thought somewhat dazedly as she was deposited onto a infirmary type bed in a small room. _A summit whose mandate could ultimately destroy all of humanity, if one of the groups decided to double cross the other. And we now know for a fact that a double cross is most definitely in play. And I'd be correct in assuming that Geneva Convention rules do not apply out here..._

She was not left alone on that bed. Her captor produced a set of flexi cuffs and she was secured to the metal sides of the bed. Something had changed in his eyes as he looked down at her, and almost as an afterthought he had run a hand almost caressingly over her breasts, coming to rest on her hip.

"I could just not... give you to the wraith. They are demanding another... their serum is almost complete and they need another to begin the process again. Your father had almost outlived his usefulness anyway. With the initial testing registered several failures, they have managed to correct most of the errors now and almost have a workable serum. The wraith who captured you on your training planet? He recognised the same gene in you as in your father and he has requested that you be included as part of the deal. We have little choice but to comply. We need that serum as much as they do. But perhaps... we could exchange you for another... say, Colonel Sheppard?"

She fought now against the flexicuffs, the movement causing shards of sharp pain to slice through her head.

"Dammit! You leave Sheppard out of the deal. I'll walk myself into this willingly, if you give my father and Sheppard protection from your little deal. Hell... my life's not gonna be worth much if he ever gets his hands on me anyway..."

"Aaah, seems to me you have developed a soft spot for the good Colonel. He's already poked his damn nose in one time too many... and those 302's? I want them back. As you've no doubt aready ascertained? They are slightly... modified."

"Well that's just tough, cause all you're gonna get is me. You should know by now that Sheppard and his team do not deal with terrorists, nor do they give in to demands from megalomanics such as the members of your little pathetic group."

His hand caressed her hip in that hypnotic motion and she felt dizziness spiral up and threaten to overwhelm her. She knew that she would lose consciousness again soon and she struggled to keep her mind as lucid as she could.

"Super soldiers..." her voice was barely a whisper, watching in a combination of fascination and revulsion as his hand moved in lazy circles over her hip. She felt disconnected, surreal – as though outside of her body on one level and looking down on what was being said and done. She fought to bring herself back, to reconnect with her body but she assumed that it was her mind's way of dealing with the information she was receiving.

"Good girl... yes, your mind is sharp, just like your father's." She heard the light regret that laced his tones. "I would have preferred that they use another, but your father was the only one at that time, who possessed both the gene and the ability to reverse engineer all the Asgard technology. That knowledge is secure... the wraith were able to 'download' it into an artificial brain that they managed to create from your father."

Another man walked in then and with a sharp motion of his head, indicated to her captor that he was to leave. He had noted the hand that rested on her hip, and the sharpening of his eyes had the other man dropping his.

"Leave us. I need to take a look at the young lady and see about patching her up before she's transported."

Her eyes tracked him, his movements fast and economical and while his eyes may have been cold and unemotional, his hands were gentle and she knew that he was a doctor and regardless of where he was in his life now, at one point? His mandate had been to save lives, not kill – and she wondered at the long and dark road that loomed in front of these men who gave their allegiance to the organisation known only as The Trust.


	37. Chapter 37 Distraction

CHAPTER 37 – DISTRACTION

She felt his hands at her head, stemming the bloodflow, a sting of an injection and knew that he was numbing the area so that he could stitch her up. She continued to float in that half state of consciousness, aware when his eyes touched on hers. She sensed when he had finished, noting the absence of his touch, then he was back and the cuffs were being removed from her hands. She attempted to push herself up and groaned. The pain in her head was incredible and she leaned over, retching and felt his hands on her back as he held her with one hand and placed a bowl in front of her with the other.

"Easy...take a moment to get your balance back. We've no choice but to move you immediately. If you found your way here, then the others will and while we will have a little unpleasant surprise waiting for them when they arrive, we want you off the planet before they get here. Our allies have been in contact with us. They're not happy at the loss of the 302's – and we intend to cut a deal with Atlantis to get them back. We know they're there, and if they want to see Sheppard and his team again, then they'll hand them over nice and easy. No blood spilled."

"Except mine..." Her voice was fading in and out, but she had understood what he had said, and knew that regardless of the new deal on the table, it did not include her release. She was a retribution for her father no longer being in their control.

"Unfortunately... yes, you will be a casualty of this little war – just as your father would have been. But you'll have the distinction of being one of the universe's first super soldiers. A fully functioning half wraith, half human hybrid, with 100 percent capability in all fields dominant to each DNA."

He paused a moment, helping her to her feet now and securing the flexi cuffs onto her wrist behind her back. She was too weak to even attempt to fight back.

"You'll be the prototype and we'll use you to train them once we have a considerable army. There'll be no group on earth or in that galaxy that will be able to oppose us. The most formidible hired guns the world has ever seen."

"Why...?" She struggled for breath now, and he was walking her out of the infirmary and into the main area of the building she had been brought into.

"Because we can... Take a moment to consider the extreme perfect predatory nature of the wraith. They are an indomitable force. They are without conscience, possess superior strength, a brilliant high level of mental acuity, telepathetic capabitilites and they do not die of natural causes. Combined with the natural human strengths which takes away the need to feed – they will eat as humans, not as wraith – and you have to admit, the idea and eventual concept is more than just a little brilliant."

One example of that brilliant race that he had just rapturised over now stood in front of her. The wraith from the laboratory, the one who Sheppard had supposed killed.

_Not so dead then..._ she fought to push down the giggle. _Are these people so very wrong in what they do? The wraith? Apart from their method of feeding, they were a formidable race, and perhaps, if some of their less extreme tendancies could be bred out, the possibly there would be something in their eventual result._

The wraith had run his eyes up and down her body and she saw something flare in those yellow cold eyes.

"She is the same as the other... but stronger. I sense that. Now that we have perfected the serum, it has seemed almost destined that we were to have another sent to us... one who would complete the first prototype. The other... he was not strong enough and his body would not have withstood the shock of the transformation for very much longer."

His long cold finger reached out and ran lightly over her face, and she pushed back a little to escape his questing hand, feeling the hard body of the doctor behind her.

Then suddenly, he gripped her chin in his hands and his face moved closer to her.

"Where are the ships? The one's that were taken from us. We need to complete the transformation in order to finalise our plans. Your so called protectors in your galaxy? They will feel the sting of their own weapons, modified in such a way that they will never withstand the onslaught. Your galaxy will be protected no more, and it will be ours..."

He broke off then, his yellow eyes slanting suddenly toward the doctor as though realising that he had revealed more than he should have. She felt the shift in the body behind her, the coiled tension and realised that he had just reached the conclusion that the wraith were in fact going to double cross them. She felt his hand slide in behind her body as though reaching for something, and his movement after that was lightning fast.

He brought a gun out and now banding his hand around her to hold her back against him, he trained the weapon on the wraith.

"Not liking where this is going...we had a deal and while wraith and humans will always have their differences, this was of benefit to both parties."

He had begun walking them both backwards and the wraith followed, amusement in his voice.

"This way, we get all the benefit. We get the ships we need, the protype, the Asgard technology and a new feeding ground. We see the benefits in your super soldiers, as you call them and perhaps we will simply keep our little creation to ourselves. Afterall, now that you have given us what we want, what is to stop us from taking more? Give me the girl and then make sure those ships are delivered to the planet along with Colonel Sheppard and his team. The rest of you are free to leave, but I warn you – if you decide to return to your home galaxy, it will no longer be safe. If you chose to remain here, on this planet, then we will offer you immunity – that is your payment for giving us what we needed. You see, Jenks...the rules of the game can change at any time."

"Yes, they can..."

The hard voice of Colonel John Sheppard had the wraith turning sharply and Jo closing her eyes in relief. The emergency beacon had worked and they had arrived.

"Ah, Colonel Sheppard. You heard my request then... we need you to complete our plan. We need you to bring those ships back for us."

"Not gonna happen, wraith. Those ships, complete with their modifications... which by the way, our military is most appreciative of... are on their way back to Earth as we speak. It seems some of the crew of the Prometheus are not to be trusted, so we've called another of our little surprises into play. Another of our ships, the Daedelus... will be taking our cargo back and some of your little elite group aboard the Prometheus."

His harsh words were directed both at the wraith and the Trust doctor. He had seen Sheppard and his team step out from around the side of the building and had had no time to either escape nor warn the wraith.

The wraith's words were mocking. "A minor setback Colonel Sheppard. We have the cloned braincells and we can rebuild. We have the technology and prototypes in place already, that were not on board those ships. I have the serum. You, Colonel? Have won only a small victory."

"Maybe not so small, wraith. That laboratory on the planet where you kept Colonel Barlow? It has been blown up, completely... the boys had fun doing that – some nice packets of C4 and that place is a pile of rubble. Oh, I know... it's likely that not all your eggs were in the same basket, but I think we've managed to crack more than just a few. But I do have one little bombshell to drop on you... well both of you actually. The Asgard? You know they're generally mild mannered little dudes... but we just happened to whisper in their grey little ears about what's been going down. It seems the don't take kindly to their technology being misappropriated and I suspect, gentlemen? That this somewhat unhealthy alliance that you've formed is about to encounter some serious Asgard wrath. Just saying'..."

John had deliberately not looked at her and flicking a cursory look over her now, had not missed the spark of hurt that shot into those silver eyes.

Ronon and Teyla had been following the tension that was mounting between the groups, and it was Ronon who brought up his big weapon now and fired on the wraith, dropping him to the ground. He moved his weapon now, so that is was trained high and to the left of Jo, who was effectively blocking most of the doctor's body.

"Stand down and give us the girl... I'm not feeling too merciful at the moment..."

John, in the interest of combat courtesy, gave the man the option to surrender, assuming – and rightly so – that he would not take the opportunity handed to him. He kept backing away, keeping Jo in front of him, and John saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, as she brought her elbow up and slammed it into his midriff, causing him to lower his weapon momentarily and for her to push away from him as he went down clutching his stomach. Ronon fired as soon as she was clear, and she stood a little uncertainly, until Teyla came up to her, bringing a hand to the side of her head to check on the blood flow from the reopened wound.

"My father, Teyla? Is he any better?"

"No, Jo. I wish I had better news for you. We managed to get the information from him as to where the Trust had established their base and this was of enormous benefit. However he was put back into a sedated state by Dr Beckett as he appeared to become agitated again."

Jo turned now to face the man who had still not moved toward her.

"John...?"

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Jo. Ronon, Lorne? Do a thorough sweep of the city and round up all the personnel. Rodney? I want you to find that tracking device they have, and shut it down. I need to bring the jumpers into the city so that we can load these bastards into it and get them back to Atlantis. They'll be on the one way express back to earth. They can deal with them. Once we shut this place down, I want nothing more to do with this sorry mess."

John turned and strode away. Lorne paused briefly, and moved towards Jo. The Colonel had been harsh, and while he understood why he had done it, Jo was a friend and she was hurting right now.

"You ok?" He put out a hand and rested it gently against the side of her head and the simple act of kindness had tears in her eyes and her breath hitched.

"Aaah hell..." Likely he was going to have to face Sheppard's wrath for not moving to complete his task immediately, and stepping in where he was no doubt not welcome, however he followed his own needs at the moment. To give her a small amount of comfort.

"Come here... it's ok..." He folded her into his arms and the damn broke. John had turned and saw her take the security of Lorne's arms and he shut his eyes in pain. He should have been the one to give her that, not his damn second in command. But he was too angry and too raw and he needed to get this job done so that he could try and put his feelings in their right compartments. And so he turned away, but not before he saw the way she clung to Lorne and the way Lorne dropped his head and spoke quietly into her ear.

Right now he just wanted to hit something.


	38. Chapter 38 Recriminations

CHAPTER 38 – RECRIMINATIONS

Jo went back with Lorne on one of the jumpers, happy enough to let the Major do the flying. He had settled her in the second seat and noting her pale, sick features – he kept flicking concerned glances at her, having helped to load up the jumper with as much of the confiscated items as they could. It would necessitate several trips to the planet to clean it out. All of the Trust members in residence had been captured and for now were being held on the planet under guard until the authority had come down from earth to transport them.

"You holding up ok, Jo? You wanna talk?" Those silver eyes flickered open. She had closed them briefly, but when she did all she see was John's face and the anger that she had seen there. She had been under no illusions, knowing that when he arrived he would be bringing more than just a small measure of wrath with him. But seeing the reality of that anger, on top of all that she had been through. That was another thing.

"What do you want me to say, Evan? I screwed up, I know that. But I did it."

"You're saying the end justifies the means, then... Not so sure that the Colonel is gonna believe that one."

She punched her hand down on the side of the seat in frustration before she answered him. "That's exactly what I'm saying Evan, and don't try and tell me that he wouldn't have done the same thing. He's just pissed because I got there before he did. His ego is feeling a little out of sorts."

"Not fair, Jo. You know that's not true. Right now? You're dealing with your own anger, and probably it's best if you keep away from each other for a while. Comments like that, whether coming from you or from him.. they're gonna hurt. And once said, it's damn hard to take them back."

She fell silent then, visualising his face as he had watched her step into the jumper with Lorne. She had seen betrayal almost as though he didn't understand why she would turn to Lorne. Another thing to add to their combined list of grievances. He didn't trust her, seeing more in her actions when she was with Lorne than was really there. And she had turned to Lorne, when perhaps she shouldn't. Teyla had stood nearby and just shaken her head. There was nothing she could do for the pair of them at the moment. They needed to work through their issues themselves.

They had left Rodney on the planet to go through some of the technology before it had been collected up and transported back to Atlantis. Some of it he wanted to sort through first, and a team had elected to stay with him, also as means to keep some sort of guard over the area. Two more security teams had been left on the planet in order to keep the captured Trust members secure until they received word from Atlantis as to when to transport them.

Ronon and John had left some time after Lorne and by the time they arrived back in Atlantis, the jumper bay was a hive of activity. Engineers and marines were unloading the transported equipment from Lorne's jumper and this had been neatly stacked in the jumper bay. O'Neill and Sam were there when they arrived and O'Neill was quick to give John a congratulatory slap on the back.

"A job well done, Sheppard. You rounded up a large amount of missing technology, some we were aware had been missing, others... no so much. It will take some time to catalogue everything and cross reference it back to lists from earth. I've been in contact with the SGC and forwarded a message on the President. It's a little delicate, this whole Trust issue. We've had problem with them in the past, but they fly so far under the radar that we find it nearly impossible to track them. And they've been keeping quiet, or so we thought. We now know different. A base in Pegasus? Easy enough for them to stay even further under the radar."

"What's going to happen to them? Will our government find a way to sweep it all under the carpet, the way they usually do?"

John had surrendered his weapon to the waiting marine and had now bent down to run his hand over the rising pile of equipment that was being unloaded.

"Not gonna happen, Sheppard. The President? Will be paying us a little visit out here in the next few days – as soon as he can get his schedule cleared. With an extremely competent escort of NSA security teams. The Trust will be interogated out here, away from prying eyes and ears – and those on earth? At least the ones they have managed to round up so far... will be dealt with on a similar scale – at one of the Alpha sites in the milky way."

"The government trying to keep their hands clean... keep the questioning off world."

"Something like that, Sheppard."

John straightened up, exhausted suddenly and needing to be alone for a while. He watched as Ronon flicked a hand in his direction, then left the jumper bay – bored now with the turn of the conversation. There was no sign of either Lorne or Jo and he wondered briefly if they were together somewhere. Running a hand through his hair he blocked out the thought.

He didn't have the energy to care right now.

He got as far as the door and turned back, eyes meeting Sam's who was looking his way with more than just a small measure of sympathy.

"How's Barlow holding up, Sam? Carson come up with anything new?"

"He thinks he's close John, just needs to smooth a few more things out, then I think he'll be at the testing stage. In case you're wondering... Jo's with him now..."

"As she should be... me? I'm going to eat, shower and bed. I assume you'll be taking care of that particularly disciplinary action?"

Sam sighed. "John... we need to talk about this."

"Oh, I get it... friends with the General, so the disciplinary stuff? Not gonna happen. Well, that's just great. Someone needs to temper down that disobedient streak and the only way to do that is to officially reprimand her, and set some sort of example for others on this base."

He was getting wound up now, and knew that he should have just walked out of there before starting this conversation. It was not the time, not while emotions were running high and not until he had had time to get himself under some sort of control.

"She's gonna think that she can just do whatever the hell she wants without impunity. That's how she goes through life... she needs to be taught a lesson, damnit!"

"Enough Sheppard! I will deal with her, have no doubt about that – but that is my business,not yours. I sent her out there, not under your command, but under mine. There will be no implied nepotism and she is not exempt from the disciplinary actions that face the rest of the Atlantis teams if they screw up. She willfully put herself and others in danger by going off alone. And whether or not she got the job done, and it's a given that she did – the means she went about it is not acceptable. If it gives you some peace of mind – then yes, she will be punished. As soon as her father is well... she will accompany him back to earth. I'll find some particularly despicable postion for her and she will spend a suitable amount of time serving penance and thinking about her actions. Does that satisfy you, Sheppard?"

The general was angry and John had come to an abrupt standstill, his body still and tight. _Back to earth? He's gonna send her back to earth? I'm angry, yeah... but god, not to see her again? Is that what I really want..._

Jack watched ast the muscles tightened in his junior officer's back and knew what he was going through. Hell, he had gone through the same thing with Sam. He knew the roller coaster ride they had faced, was still riding it's ups and downs even now, and certainly did not envy what John was about to go through. He had spoken with Jo when she returned, and Jo knew that she had screwed up, and knew also, that he would be forced to show a measure of discipline toward her. Fortunately she had accepted this with little fight. And he wondered if the fact that Sheppard and her were at an impasse had helped with this acceptable.

It seemed she had come to the conclusion that the stakes of the game had changed and he no longer wanted her here in Atlantis. And looking at the angry set of Sheppard's shoulders, it appeared that he was stubborn enough not to tell her how he really felt.

Jack sighed, and exchanged a look with Sam. He wouldn't interfere. They had to work it out for themselves, just as he and Sam had.


	39. Chapter 39 Not the right way

CHAPTER 39 – NOT THE RIGHT WAY

Jo hovered over his shoulder and Carson shot her another impatient look.

"I know you're worried lass, but you're making me nervous by draping yourself all over me like that. Under normal circumstances... I might find it pleasurable. But today? Not so much. I'm nearly there, but you're not making the process go any faster..."

Teyla stood nearby. She had been Jo's companion these past two days. They had sparred together,walked along the pier together and Teyla had spent time with her at her father's bedside. They had talked a lot, and Teyla had offered to go and talk to John for her and attempt to smooth some of the anger between them.

"No, Teyla. If he can't get past what he is feeling in his own way, I don't want it forced on him. Yeah, he might be angry, but I am too. He walked away from me after we left that planet, and if he's too stubborn to try and sit down and talk things through, then so be it."

"You're both as stubborn as each other, Jo. He walks around with thunderclouds on his face. He is short tempered and when I sparred with him yesterday, I was able to knock him to the ground more than once. His concentration was not there, nor was his anger being channelled where it could at least be productive."

The had agreed to disagree, and an easy companionship had cemented itself between the two woman. Once, when they had been walking on the pier, two dark heads bent close together as they walked with arms linked, John had stood from one of the balconies and watched. Seen the way that her long dark hair ruffled slightly in the breeze and seen the sad smile on her face as she turned to Teyla in response to something she had said.

And he had felt his heart clench painfully. He knew that he needed to clear the air between them, but it had been two days now and somehow he couldn't find the words. It didn't help that she had avoided him whenever she could. It seemed that whenever he was coming into the mess, she had simply finished eating and left.

Now, he thought he'd pay Carson a visit and see how the formula was coming along. Coming up to the research annexe, he had heard her light laughter, and again felt that clenching in his gut, Pausing at the door to the room, he had looked at the way she leaned companionably against the doctor, and the look on Carson's face when he looked up at her, even though exasperation had laced his words. Was he seeing things that simply weren't there, because of how he felt? He had convinced himself that she and Lorne were getting too close, and now he saw inappropriate actions between the doctor and Jo? Where had this sudden jealous streak come from? He knew that Carson would not attempt to give her more than friendship, but when he looked at them together, he wanted to grind his teeth.

He attempted a smile as he walked in and saw Jo freeze slightly and her own smile dim. Teyla simply sighed and wished herself somewhere else.

"Teyla, Doc... Jo..." John's voice was a little wary and Carson looked up, a ready smile for the Colonel.

"Colonel. We're making progress, really. I'm sure I'd make even more if this young lady would cease to distract me constantly..." he said the words with a smile and Jo immediately pushed herself away from him and ran a hand through her long hair.

"I can take a hint Carson, believe it or not. Teyla? Wanna come and spar with me? I have the innate urge to hit out at something right now, and you're the only one who wants to be my punching bag... and even then? I usually end up taking the pounding..." She smiled only partly in jest, holding out her arm which was indeed covered in light bruising. She watched John's eyes narrow as he looked at it, and when she went to brush past him to leave, he placed a hand at her waist, stopping her.

"You wanna punch something... how about we go a few rounds. Might do us good..."

"I kinda feel I've already taken my pounding from you... Colonel Sheppard. But, if it'll make you feel better, then I accept. Teyla? A raincheck, perhaps?"

Teyla's eyes were worried. She had seen the lurking anger in the Colonel and the answering stroke of anger in the younger girl and did not like the direction that this particular liason was likely to take.

"Do you think that perhaps that is wise, Jo? To spar in anger sometimes works, other times it can complicate... things."

"Bring it on..." Jo's glare was hard and angry and John winced.

He followed her out of the room and down the hallway. She did not attempt to speak and as he looked at her rigid posture and the twitch of those hips two emotions warred inside of him. One? Anger, and that made him want to take her by the wrist and drag her into the nearest room and put her over his knee. The other? Lust, pure and simple. And as he followed her down that hallway he had to push down a groan, wondering which one was going to be the victor that day.

When they arrived in the sparring room, Ronon was already there, and he simply raised an eyebrow in query when he saw them enter. John and he had spoken a little about where John's head was at, and for Ronon, he found the solution simple. Yell at each other a bit, then make up. The way men and women did best. He didn't understand this tiptoing around the other's feelings and the bottled up anger.

Jo stalked into the room, and tossing a look in Ronon's direction, she had shrugged off her shirt, clad now in a tight fitting tank top. Catching her hair into a pony tail, she had flicked that ever present elastic hair tie from her wrist and secured it out of the way, knowing that John watched her every movement with hooded eyes. She had let her eyes travel up and down his body and attempted to push down that hunger. She wanted him. And wondered how long it would take that feeling to just go away.

Moving in closer they began. He saw the challenge in her eyes, and mentally groaned. He didn't want to hurt her, but with his own anger barely held in check, he was afraid that he would do just that. But he couldn't back down now. He was the one that had issued the invitation, or challenge – however you looked at it, it had come from him and he needed to follow it through.

He had her down on the floor in seconds, a surprised gleam in her eyes. He hadn't hurt her – she knew how to spar, had been trained in hand to hand combat in boot camp and he knew that she was a strong fighter. But if she let her guard down, she could get hurt and he was not in a position now to hold himself back.

She took hit after hit, and even Ronon, who had been resting against the wall, watching – made as if to step forward and break things up. He could see by the look on her face that she was taking the hits hard, and that she was not going to back down. John was relentless and Ronon wondered what he saw when he looked at her.

When he took her down one last time, and he saw the look of pain cross her face, one she had been unable to hide, he straddled her, keeping his knees on either side of her and pushing her hands and arms above her head to keep her there.

"Enough, Jo. I can't do this anymore. You're not fighting back. You're letting me get all the hits in, and I'm no bully. You're not gonna give as good as you get, then you're out of here."

Carefully he eased off her and watched as she closed her eyes and make no attempt to get up.

"Jo... Take my hand." He put one out, waiting until she had opened her eyes, instead she rolled to the side and got to her knees keeping her back to him. But not before he saw the wash of tears that threatened to spill over, and suddenly she was gone, pushing past Ronon who moved to intercept her.

"Nice going Sheppard. I hope that gave you some of your manhood back... or something. 'Cause from where I was standing, you were simply beating up on her... and she didn't have the strength to fight back."

Turning, Ronon left and John just stood with his head hanging slightly – the feeling of shame almost more than he could bear.


	40. Chapter 40 Carson has a breakthrough

CHAPTER 40 – CARSON HAS A BREAKTHROUGH

That feeling of despair cloaked him and when his radio activated to hear Carson's excited voice at the other end, he attempted to push those feelings away and made himself hurry to the research annexe.

The gang was all there, including Sam and O'Neill. The general had been waiting for the arrival of the President, scheduled to happen in the next day or so – and the formal interviewing of the Trust personnel would begin. It would happen here in Atlantis. They had been moved from the planet where they had been captured and were now being held in the secure cell area in the bottom of the main tower. No attempt had been made at interrogation yet, and they would wait until the President and the NSA team arrived. This would be their show.

"Colonel... finally. I think it's complete. The serum to reverse the wraith DNA. It still needs to be tested of course, but I am cautiously optimistic."

John's eyes flickered around that room, and came to rest immediately on Jo. She was standing near Carson, and did not look at him.

Jack clapped his hands together as a small child would with a new discovery. "That is good news Carson. Let's go test it...?"

"Patience, General. I still need to prepare it into a workable format. Give me another hour and we can meet in Colonel Barlow's room and I will administer the first shot. I am not sure how many it will take, but I will give him the shots at one hour intervals and monitor the changes that occur."

"Will it be permanent, Carson?" Sam looked worried. She knew that Jack wanted to get him back to earth as soon as possible and they couldn't do that if he had wraith DNA in his system. It would be deemed too much of a security risk and he would need to be detained out here in Pegasus, until his system was clear.

"I hope so, Colonel. We shall have to wait and see. If there is no return of the wraith DNA in 24 hours, then it would be safe to assume that we have managed to eradicate it permanently. We know that the wraith DNA is extremely powerful and the serum that they used to splice it with Barlow's own DNA was fast acting and showed immediate infiltration of the foreign DNA. If it is going to come back, it will do so immediately. The natural human DNA is not strong enough to keep it away."

"So the serum will not just block the wraith DNA, it will effectively destroy it?"

"Correct, Colonel Carter. It was the only way – that is why this has taken so long. It was not enough to simply block it, as I said – the human DNA is weaker, and it would not remain blocked for long."

He gave Barlow the first shot and shooed the others out of the room so that he could remain quietly and make the required observations. He allowed Jo to stay. She sat by her father's bedside and held his hand, willing the serum to work so that she could take him home. For not entirely unselfish reasons either... she needed to leave herself. Being in the same city with John, was becoming too painful and it was getting harder and harder to avoid him. She needed to get back to earth and try to make some amends somewhere in her shattered life. And she had no idea how to even begin and wondered why that particular task seemed such an insurmountable mountain to climb.

The first hour brought no changes and Jo cast a worried look at Carson. He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't panic lass – I wasn't expecting a miracle... not just yet, anyway. Give it time. It'll take at last three to four hours to show any effect. You look exhausted. Why don't you go and get some rest, and perhaps something to eat. The Colonel had a quiet word with me earlier. He wanted me to keep an eye on you, mentioned that you were barely eating anything."

"I'm fine, Carson. I just want to stay here and be near him. You're the one that needs to go and get some rest... you've been working on this serum more or less non stop for the past few days.."

"While I appreciate your concern, lass – I would prefer that you looked after yourself a little better. I'll contact you as soon as there is any change in his condition. At the moment, I can only deal with one patient."

She pushed herself away from the bed. She didn't want him worrying about her, so she would leave for a while and let Carson concentrate on the one patient. She left the room, but felt a sudden wave of both dizziness and nausea and had to turn and place her hands against the wall and rest her forehead against there. Perhaps Carson was right – she simply needed to take some time out and provide her body with a bit of fuel.

"You're going to eat something right now, if I have to carry you there myself..." The voice that growled in her ear held more than just an exasperated tone, it was angry and it was the anger that she immediately responded to.

Turning sharply, she encountered muscle and one annoyed Colonel and putting out her hands to push against him, she found him immovable and his face like granite.

"I don't need a babysitter, John. I was on my way to get food, not that it is any of your business, so please get out of my way so that I can do just that."

"I beg to differ, about the babysitter thing. But please... by all means..." He stood back and allowed her to pass, and saw the flash of anger in her eyes turn quickly to pain. He followed her, worried more than he wanted to admit to himself, and needing to be near her in a way that ate at him like a cancer. She did go straight to the mess, and he was right behind her, taking some food onto a tray and noting Lorne sitting alone at a table, she had not looked at John, simply gone and sat down with Lorne. John had ground his teeth, knowing that she was somehow deliberately provoking him and there was nothing he could do about it. He had started this and she would finish it. It was a lonely race and at the end, there would be no winners.

Regardless of what John had thought, Jo hadn't sit with Lorne to spite John. Far from it. She needed to be with a friend, someone who didn't look at her and find fault, and she knew that Lorne would smile at her, tell her some funny stories, and just let her be. John could not do that,not at the moment, not when the very core of their relationship, such as it was, was being held up for scrutiny that would not pass the test.

Lorne had looked at her with sympathy, seeing the bad tempered look on the Colonel's face and watching as he deliberately took a seat on the other side of the room, and proceeded to sit and glower at them.

"You're playing with fire, Jo... you know that, don't you? I suspect our Colonel has a jealous streak a mile wide, and right now? You are walking a fine fine line. That whole pistols at dawn thing? I have a feeling I'll find a note under my door challenging me to just that." Lorne was not really worried. He had no intention of moving in on Jo, as tempting as it might have been. She still wore her heart on her sleeve, and it had the Colonel's name on it, whether she was going to admit it to herself or not.

And that Colonel stared at her now, as a drowning man stares at water.

"I'm not playing at anything, Evan. John's made it more than clear that I am just a nuisance to him, and my return to earth can't come fast enough. Well, guess what? The damn feeling is mutual." She ducked her eyes quickly and took a sip of the too hot coffee causing her to quickly put her cup down on the surface with a hard bang.

"You're both lying to yourselves then, Jo. You wear your feelings like a cloak of armour, except that they offer you no protection. One of you is going to have to take a step back and let the other make the first move. At the moment? You're both like male peacocks, all bright feathers and strutting... but really it's all for show."

Jo couldn't help it, she laughed – and realised that it felt good to do that. Deciding that she simply didn't feel like food afterall, she pushed out of her seat and moved around and gave Lorne a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Peacocks, huh? I don't know that I will get that image out of my head in a hurry... thanks Evan... I needed that!"

And with that she was gone, and Lorne's eyes were immediately drawn to the hazel pair that regarded him from the other side of the room and he knew instantly how that must have looked to the Colonel. Giving a mental shrug, he told himself that there was nothing he could do about that. They were like two children in a school yard crush. Time for one of them to get past the note passing stage.

At that moment John's radio activated requesting his presence in Barlow's room and he was out of that chair in an instant, entering the room seconds behind Jo who did not even attempt to hide her fears as he brushed against her.

"Carson... please... tell me it's working?" She felt light fingers touch her waist and knew that it was John, and that light touch was enough to bring the prick of tears to her eyelids. His touch became a little firmer and she did not pull away, but neither did she step into it, her attention now fully focused on the doctor and the man in the bed.

The man who now looked at her with a smile on his face and a twinkle in those gray eyes.

Her father was back and looking at the smile on Carson's face she realised that it was all going to be ok. It would work, and she would have her father back and it was only then that she simply could no longer find the strength to support herself and just faded.

John knew the instant that this happened, had been looking at her face and not at her father's. His hand was already there, and he simply tightened his grip and she was against his side in a heartbeat and he held onto her as though he would never let her go. She struggled to hold on, but did not attempt to push herself away, just reached out a hand to connect with her father's and suddenly a chair was beneath her and she was able to collapse into it, still feeling the comforting touch of John as he kept a tight grip of her shoulders. She brought her fathers hand to her cheek and left it there, tears running down her cheeks unchecked and that unashamed reaction was reward enough for Carson as he nodded once at the Colonel in the bed.

"Welcome back, Colonel Barlow. I believe we have a suitable serum to combat what was done to you. The physical changes? They will take a little longer to reverse, but it is all in progress now, and it shouldn't be long. You've been through hell and back, Colonel – and I'm thinking that you'll be carefully avoiding the other side from now on."

"Home... doctor. I just want to go home.. with my girl here. We all need to do some repairing, it would seem."

Barlow flicked his eyes up unerringly to those of the Colonel who stood behind his daughter with his hands holding her steady and John saw immediately that Balow knew exactly the world of angst that they now found themselves in. He did not bother to mask his emotions from the man, and Barlow saw too, the pain that shone out of the Colonel's eyes at the mention of her return to earth.

Barlow's voice was soft. "She needs to find herself first... then if she's happy with who she is, then there's a whole universe of possibilties out there.. I do believe..."

John quickly tempered down that raw pain, knowing that Barlow spoke the truth. Everything was too raw at the moment, and too much had happened. Perhaps distance was important right now and if it was meant to be?

Well.. then it was meant to be.


	41. Chapter 41 Falling off the precipice

CHAPTER 41 FALLING OFF THE PRECIPICE

Twenty four hours later they were alerted by the mid way station to the imminent arrival of the President and the NSA team. John, Sam and Jack met them in the gate room, and even John found himself on his best behaviour in the presence of their country's leader.

"Welcome to Atlantis, Mr President." Jack had stepped forward first to shake his hand and the others had stayed back out of deference until they were introduced. John eyed the additional 'men in black' security that had accompanied him in addition to the NSA and he pushed down a chuckle. Out here? Most of the inhabitants of Pegasus had no idea who he was and even if they had? They would not have cared and the additional security, while force of habit on earth... was simply overkill here.

John and Sam hung back and let the General accompany the President and his security toward Barlow's room. He had wanted to meet the airforce officer before commencing the interviews with the captured Trust personnel and give his personal apology for what had been done for him.

Jo was in her father's room when the security detail walked in and they immediately surrounded her and forced her back against the wall. While she had been apprised of the President's visit, protocol had not, unfortunately, been discussed and Jo immediately took offence to the security team pushing her back, and she came out swinging.

Literally.

One fist connected with one man's chin and she was not given any further opportunity. She was grasped from behind roughly by one of the other security and slammed hard against the wall, arms pulled uncomfortably behind her back, face against the wall.

"Jesus Christ – will you idiots stand down! This is the girl's father! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jack's voice thundered through the room and the security details remained where they were, waiting for orders from the President.

John had pushed into the room hearing the General's voice and saw Jo held against the wall by a man almost twice her size. He didn't pause as he literally erupted into the room, and the man holding her went down in seconds and John had his gun trained on the others.

His voice was cold.

"I suggest you goons back out of here now... real slow. You just made a serious mistake. No one, and I mean no one.. lays a hand on her. Get out. Now."

He kept his weapon trained on them, and the President,nodding once at them, moved into the room and spoke.

"Out boys, and that's an order. General? I apologise, on behalf of my men. They are somewhat... overzealous and are simply trained to see danger at every turn. Miss Barlow, I presume? I'm sorry. Please... accept my sincere apologies for this appalling behaviour."

Jo had not moved, her ribs a little sore and bruised and she felt John come up behind her and his touch as he ran his hand down her hair was light and soothing. His hand reached her neck and curled there, using momentum to turn her towards him and pull her into his body, wrapping his arms around her carefully.

"Jo? Sweetheart?" Her father was sitting up anxiously in the bed having witnessed the way she had been thrown against the wall and attempted himself to move out of bed. He had been restrained by Sam who knew that John would be there to help her, and now she eased the Colonel back down into the bed.

"I'm ok, Daddy. I've been through worse... lie back down. See, I'm fine." She pulled away from John's embrace and attempted a smile at her father. "It's getting a little crowded in here, and I'm sure this man... " she looked sneeringly at the President "wants to tell you some fabricated pile of crap about how sorry he is for what happened, and as I have no desire to hear it, I shall leave you to it."

"Josephine!" Jack all but bellowed her name, horrified at the way she had spoken to the President, but it was John that pushed down the smile. The woman was all guts and no glory and did not give a toss about the consequences of either her words or her actions. Mostly that made him angry, but sometimes, just sometimes.. he could do nothing by admire the woman. She was a law unto herself.

Jo just glared at both Jack and the President and pushed past them into the hallway, pausing in front of the secret service man who had slammed her into the wall, and she punched him hard in the stomach. John had followed her out, and groaning, moved to intercept, but the SS man had simply grunted and looked straight ahead. It seemed he valued his orders from his boss, and would not allow her to provoke him.

"Enough Jo... come on now..." he scooped her up, kicking and protesting and dragged her down the hallway, keeping himself moving until he felt her start to calm. He put her down when they were far enough away, but kept a firm grip on her.

"Now that... was not cool. Really. If those guys had decided to retaliate? Good little fighter you might be, those guys are better. And bigger. So calm down. Now."

He could feel the tension humming through her and softened his touch, bringing his hands up to the side of her neck and massaging lightly, watching amused as her eyes closed slightly.

"There... that's a little better. Not such a wild child..."

She tilted that face up to his and he groaned. Maybe not a wild child, but a woman who knew what she wanted, and right now it was him. He saw it in her eyes and watched fascinated as her hands slid up his chest and splayed out over his shirt, slipping inside the opening to touch his skin.

"Hey... not fair."

"So even the odds... Colonel."

He picked her up and did just that. Strode down the hallway to his room, and slapping a hand against the door opener, barely contained his impatience as it slid open, and barely waited for it to slide shut again before he was depositing her on the bed and pulling down her trousers, all in one seamless motion.

"In a hurry,much... Colonel?"

"If I don't get you down to skin, I'm gonna explode..." He growled the words, following them with kisses that began at her collarbone and exploded a line of fire down her stomach and the inside of her thighs, that had her writhing and moaning beneath him. He fumbled with his own clothes, watching her through hooded eyes at her body lying on the bed in front of him, and his hands were back, claiming that skin and smoothly across those lean muscles that rippled lightly in anticipation of his touch.

He felt her own hands, caressing, stroking and he felt as though he was on the brink of simply stepping off a giant chasm, and if he fell? He'd never find his way back up again.

"Jo... damn, I've missed you...but if you keep touching me like that... I..." he didn't finish. She had rolled over the top of him and now clamped her thighs, one on either side of him and he stared up at her in fascination, part child, but all woman, fuelled at the moment only partly by lust and a little by anger. She dropped her head and kissed him hard and his hands went to grip her hips, lifting her slightly and bringing her back down, so that she eased onto him and he was able to sheath himself inside her.

Home. And he let her take the lead, moving slowly at first, then with more abandon as her skin heated and he was barely able to hold on to her. Who fell first? He did not know. Two hearts beating an unsteady rythym as they tumbled together off a precipice that had only room for two.

When she calmed and her head lay on his chest, that long dark hair spread out across him, he tipped his head back and looked up at the ceiling. Allowed his racing heart to ease, allowed his skin to cool and stroked the body that lay comfortably strewn across him.

And wondered how he'd survive when she accompanied her father back to earth.


	42. Chapter 42 A thorn in his side

CHAPTER 42 THORN IN HIS SIDE

John found himself involved in the interviews conducted with the President, General O'Neill and the captured Trust and the days were long. They had ten Trust members sequestered at Atlantis and reports from earth showed that twenty had been captured and were being held in a secure area awaiting questioning. He did not see Jo during that time, whether she was avoiding him or they simply managed to pass in the night – he didn't know. The interviews continued long into that first night and he had simply gone back to his quarters and collapsed onto his bed, briefly wondering what she was doing... then fell into a dreamless sleep. The second day had brought more of the same and throughout the long interviews, they learnt nothing from the Trust.

They refused to confirm or deny the charges that had been laid against them and the President was not prepared to condone the use of aggressive interview tactics. This left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. The plan that they had methodically put into place during the past two years was irrefutable and there was sufficient proof to corroborate this, but with no admittance on their part, it would mean the ensuring trials would be very long and very costly.

And in John's opinion? A waste of time. He had told the General as much and given them his recommendation, before pushing impatiently out of the interview room that second night. Exhausted, frustrated and more than just a little disillusioned at the ineffectiveness of the American government.

He had told them in no uncertain terms that the Trust should not be returned to Earth. They should be permanently incarcerated on that planet that they had made more than comfortable over the past two years, and the Pegasus galaxy would become their new home. Communication and transportation off the planet should be cut off and they would remain there, on what would effectively become a prison world – a place for extreme groups such as there's to live out there days where they would no longer be a threat to earth.

However, that recommendation had not gone down exceptionally well, causing his angry exit from the interviews and had him knocking at Jo's door, needing to see her and touch her.

She hadn't answered and he pushed away from the door in frustration, wondering where she was.

Jo had not been far away. She had spoken to Carson earlier in the day and he had advised that her father would be ready to go back to earth the following day. She had watched the happiness flare in her father's eyes, and attempted to show her own enthusiasm. This had proved difficult. Leaving Atlantis and returning to Earth? While it had always been on the cards, she had only come here to do a job and she had always known that it was a short term venture whatever the outcome – the reality hit hard and caused a spear of pain to lodge itself in the pit of her stomach.

Leaving John. That was what it had all come down to.

She took her thoughts to the top spire of the city, where she could stand on the balcony and let the breeze, the night air and the lights of a foreign moon, cast a little magic over her. Where she could pull up the image of the Colonel who had somehow lodged himself in her heart and drove her to push herself to do more than she ever thought she could do with both love and anger. A strange combination, where she rode the fence with anger on one side, and an exploding passion on the other. Love? Whatever that was...

As she turned away from the balcony and made her way back down to her quarters, she told herself that it was the right thing to do. Let him have his life back – a little more orderly without her in it, disobeying every order and questioning every decision.

And let her have her life back... such as it was. No career, only herself and her father and a world of mixed emotions that she had left shattered and broken, three million light years away.

The next morning her father was able to walk unaided from the infirmary to her room. He had been moved out of the secure facility as soon as Carson was happy that the wraith DNA was completely eradicated. When he entered her quarters he knew immediately that her night's sleep had not been restful. She had dark circles under her eyes and her body literally hummed with an energy that would either make or break her.

"Jo, sweetheart. We need to talk..."

"Today, daddy. Home – back to earth! It's been over eight long months for you and finally you can step back on earth soil again. You'll be going home a hero, and the world will never know what you did to stop a war. What they do out here? It is so brave, and so cruel. They work always in the shadows, and on earth? No one will ever know how often they stand on the brink of extinction. How can we step back onto our planet and just walk amongst people, knowing what we know?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about... what I talked to Jack about... there's a place here for you, if you want to stay. Sam too, she told me about your abilities, your downfalls also, but she said you do more good than harm, and you would be welcome here. If you chose."

"I can't Daddy... I need to go back. I did some terrible things before I left and it would be wrong to leave them as they are... I'm not that person and it hurts me to think that people see me as someone I'm not. I can't leave it like that."

"You're a brave wonderful woman, Jo – and a daughter who has more guts than I could ever ask for. I am so proud of you, and what you did – I can't even begin to tell you. I understand, I do... but don't sacrifice your happiness for a sense of duty."

"It's about time I did have a sense of duty." She gave him a small smile and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him just as she had done a million times.

He rubbed her back and murmured into her ear.

"What about a certain Colonel who will find an empty hole when you leave? Hmmm?"

"He'll get over it, Daddy. I'm a thorn in his side most of the time anyway..."

"And that same empty hole – in your life?"

She was silent for a short time, then came her answer, so quiet that he struggled to hear it.

"Aaah,now that's a whole different story..."


	43. Chapter 43 To find his way back

CHAPTER 43 TO FIND HIS WAY BACK

He ran to the gate room having just heard the news from Sam.

She was leaving, today. Now. And a part of him knew that if he let her go, something inside him would die. But if he forced her to stay? There was no victory in that either.

The gate had not yet been activated, and Jo and her father stood near the ramp, talking with Sam and General O'Neill, who had taken time out from the interviews to say goodbye. All eyes were on John as he paused at the door, trying hard to get his breath back as well as slow down his heart rate which had escalated alarmingly at the sight of her in jeans and a tshirt, wild black hair strewn in disregard around her shoulders, and those flashing silver eyes.

Those eyes locked immediately on him and he found himself drawn into the room, almost without will. He stopped in front of her, did not acknowledge anyone else in that room, and took her face in his hands.

Didn't say anything, just looked into those silver eyes as though the story he wanted to see was written there. And it was... he saw the love, the heartbreak and the finality. She was leaving, but he saw at what cost and still could not find the words to tell her how he felt. To ask her to stay.

"Aahh... Colonel Sheppard... sir?"

The voice of the gate technician broke through and John realised that while he had been simply looking at her, the gate had activated and the event horizon shimmered just beyond, beckoning her back to earth.

He kissed her then, hard and powerful and she was rocked off her feet, oblivious to anyone else in that room, and held on for dear life as the rollercoaster of emotions that had been the heartstopping ride of their relationship, spiralled over her.

It was the clearing of a throat, rather loudly, that had John finally setting her back on her feet and taking his hands away from her face. And there were still no words, just that molten look, silver eyes to hazel eyes and then she was gone. Through the gate and it was as though all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room. Sucker punched, he bent slightly at the waist as though getting his breath and it was with more than just a little concern, that Sam stepped up to him and took him by the shoulders.

"You let her go, John... we found a way for her to stay."

"She chose not to..." Finally he pushed words past his lips, but they sounded wrong, as though they came from someone else. Perhaps they did. Perhaps another now resided in this body, while he travelled that gate with her, back to Earth.

"However you justify it, John? You have to live with it. Now, we've got work to do... General?"

Jack was watching them, the interplay between his two Colonel's and felt John's pain keenly. Hell, he'd been through it himself and knew that it felt literally as though something was ripped out of you.

"You wanna be excused from these interview today, Sheppard? Seems to me you need some thinking time.."

"Seems to me you'd be right... sir." and he turned and left the room. He thought of taking a jumper and just going... somewhere, anywhere... flying out his frustrations. Or the 302's... a hot, fast ride through space, just him and his... feelings. And flicking a glance at the gate technician as he headed to the flight bay, he saw the look returned his way. The nod of aknowledgement.

Yeah, he'd fly. And when he came back? He'd pick up where he left off, before she came – before life as he knew it took a cheap curve shot and took him under.

He'd find his way back... somehow.

Two weeks passed and the Presidential group had long since gone back to earth taking the Trust prisoners with them and leaving the base quiet once more. For now anyway... John had somehow managed to get through these two weeks, catching up on mission reports, babysit/pilot duties on two science missions and running. Lot's of running. At the end of each day he had been exhausted, barely finding the time to eat and drop into bed at night, mostly falling immediately into a deep dreamless sleep.

He figured it would simply get easier, without her. Things would go back to normal and it would as though she had never been here.

He had chosen to stay up a little later that night and watch a movie and half way through the movie he had simply fallen asleep in his chair, to find him self being suddenly woken up by Sam who stood over him, a concerned look on her face.

"We've had some bad news John, from the SGC."

"Jo...?" His eyes were open and he was pushing himself to him feet immediately, all signs of sleep gone.

"In a manner of speaking, John. The interviews with the Trust are still ongoing on earth and finally some information has been divulged. When she went back and was captured by them? Before they sewed up her head injury, they implanted something in her. A tracking device, but that is only a part of it. If she is to go too far from where it was implanted, the device loses it's itegrity inside her and becomes something else entirely."

Horror showed on John's face. He had heard a similar scenario before, read about it in a SG1 report, and he could see by the look on Sam's face that she was remembering that same mission - one that she had been involved in.

"Does she know?"

"We've spoken with her father. He has to try and locate her. She went away, to be alone for a short while - but didn't tell anyone where she was going. Or when she'd be back."

"The device, Sam... it's not just dangerous to her, is it?"

"No... it has the capabilities of a nuclear weapon and more... once it is released in the atmosphere it will harm every living thing."

"Jesus, Christ. Why the hell would they do that?"

"They're only telling us this now, because somehow they have found out that she has returned to earth. She was not meant to return... she was to be taken to a new wraith laboratory aboard a hive ship and she would take up the testing that her father had inadvertently stopped. The explosion that would arise from the loss of integrity from the tracking device - was meant to kill a wraith hive ship. The same hive ship that has plans to upload the new Asgard technology gleaned from their alliance and cross the two galaxies to get to earth. The ship was set to destroy on route, killing Jo who had evidence, and destroying the wraith vessell and stopping the double cross."

"They knew?"

"They suspected, and this was how they chose to deal with it."

"Ah crap, Sam. What the hell are they doing about it? They need to bring her in - get that damn thing outta her?"

"As we speak John. They're tracking her using the device. They'll sedate her, lift her out to the SGC and do the surgery there. The bunker is sufficiently shielded so that if this goes south, then they can evacuate the SGC and the blast will be mainly contained below..."

She bit her lip at the sight of the raw pain on his face and knew that her words had hit home.

"Go... John. Be with her if you need to."

He didn't need to think. He was up off that chair and running for the gate room and Sam had already radioed the control room so that the event horizon was just settling to a blue shimmer as he skidded to a stop on the ramp leading up to it. He barely acknowledged the technician, then he was through the gate, the start of a journey back to earth. If she survived this there would be no question. He would bring her back. Home to Atlantis.


	44. Chapter 44 End game

CHAPTER 44 END GAME

The trip back to earth was long and he felt as though every precious second he was away from her was another second that he could be finding a way to help her. It was impatient and angry that he stepped through that last gate into the SGC and with barely an acknowledgement to the General, he headed to the infirmary, driven by fear and love and left wondering which one was going to win the battle today.

She was small and impossibly pale in the infirmary bed. Essential personnel only, were allowed at base level from the moment that she had been brought in. All those not deemed to be essential had been evacuated to the surface in case the removal was not successful. General O'Neill, having followed him to the infirmary, knew that John would not leave and whatever the outcome, the Colonel would be at her side. Knowing this, he did not attempt to give him any instruction, he simply clapped him on the shoulder and stood beside him for a short while, looking down at her.

"If I could pull them apart piece by piece Sheppard... I would. To those that did this to her. If there are any left out there? I'll hunt them down... I'll spend the rest of my life hunting them down."

His voice was grim and John shot a glance at the man who stood beside him and had to remind himself that the woman lying in the bed was his goddaughter and his feelings for her were every bit as important as John's feelings for her.

"That comes to pass General? I'll be right be your side." His voice was unguarded and Jack heard the raw emotion in there that he did not attempt to hide.

"I do believe you will be Sheppard. Let's just hope this all goes well. I kinda like the idea of her having someone like you in her life. She's been alone too long."

"So have I General.. so have I."

The doctor stood nearby and cast an assessing glance at the Colonel. "We're going to begin the operation soon Colonel, General. You will need to clear the room. We have managed to shield the room as best as we can, and we have taken additional precautions in order to contain the blast, should the worst happen."

At these words, John's head shot up promptly and he moved nearer the bed, reaching down to pick up one of her hands. He saw her eyes flicker open and he looked across at the doctor.

"She's only been mildly sedated up until now. We will give her a local anaesthestic shortly just before we commence the procedure. The device is implanted at the back of her neck, and because of where it is situated, we need her quiet and calm in order to attempt an extraction. Unfortunately we did not want to risk full anaesthetic as we do not know what sort of reaction the device could have with it."

"Can I stay? During the procedure?" John looked across at the doctor.

"You'll need to get a gown on and a mask. But I don't see why not. You may be able to assist in keeping her calm and quiet. She'll be scared, she's certainly got plenty of guts for a little thing, but this is a traumatic experience, and if we can make it a little easier, then I am all for that."

John moved away quickly then to ensure that he had clean garments and a mask and that he was as hygenic as possible. Jack left him to it, preferring to observe from the room above. When John arrived back at her bedside her eyes were open and while she looked a little dazed, he saw that they sharpened when registering his presence.

"Hey, sweetheart. Thought I'd come along and keep you company on this particular mission. Not one you want to be doing alone." He smiled down into those silver eyes and was rewarded with a flash of molten just as he remembered and a whisper of a smile.

"Screwed up again, Sheppard!" Her voice was a whisper and he could see how weak she was. He squeezed her hand.

"Not your fault this time, Barlow. And you'd better pull through... there's still the matter of your disciplinary action that needs to be resolved. Also, Sam's got a hankering to have a new mechanic in Atlantis, and seems you fit the bill... although an adjustment to that attitude will be a requirement if you were to accept the job." He kept his voice light and playful and was rewarded with another smile that held just a hint of mischief.

The doctor appeared at her head and she flicked suddenly terrified eyes in his direction. John squeezed her hand a little tighter and brought her eyes back to his. He wasn't finished. "There's still another matter to be resolved as well... a certain young lady who has managed to get under my skin... seems to me while I can't live with her... it's damn near impossible to live without her. Only one thing to do..."

"Colonel?" Her voice was quiet and John tried not to watch as a local anaesthetic was administered directly into her neck.

"Marry her... "

"Was that a proposal... Colonel? "Cause... I missed,... the question..."

"Get through this sweetheart, and you'll get the whole bended knee thing. Let's do this, ok. Then get our butts back to Atlantis where we belong."

The doctor nodded at him and John had to keep his eyes firmly on hers so that he did not register the digging that was necessary in order to retrieve the device. It took some time. It had been buried in fatty tissue, and while it would have been implanted very close to the skin orginally, it's purpose was to bury itself deeper into human flesh as it changed it's integrity and that is exactly what it did. It had grown slightly, and was now lodged near her spine, and John could see by his occasional glances in that direction, that it was going to take longer than they estimated to get it out. He kept a firm grip on her hand, watching her face, watching the expressions that chased across it and the odd grimace of pain.

"Are you feeling anything, Jo? Sweetheart?"

"Scared..."

He brought her hand up to his face and kissed it. "I know babe, I'm right here with you. Just keep looking at me. Look into my eyes. It'll be ok... we'll get through this and move on." He flicked a glance up into the room above and saw the General looking down and saw also that he had been joined by Jo's father and he tried to give the man a reassuring smile. Looking back at the doctor, he saw the concentration on his face and risked a glance down at what he was doing, shuddering a little, thinking what might have come to pass had they not know about the device that had been implanted, and resolved then and there to take every one of the men responsible, down.

"Colonel?"

John's gaze was drawn back to the doctor and he saw the expression in his eyes.

"Doc?"

"I have it all out Colonel. I need an explosives team to come in here and take the device and place it in a shielded container for transport. I believe it will be jettisoned in space?"

John looked up again at the General and watched him nod. "Yes, Doc, that is the plan. And the General has the explosives team standing by on your orders."

The door opened and they entered, in explosive containment suits and carrying a small secure container that the doctor carefully placed the device into. John's hand did not leave Jo's and he felt her squeeze slightly and then the doctor was busy stitching her up and John breathed his first sigh of relief.

"It's over babe. He got it out. It's over."

Her eyes drifted closed and John dropped his head then and rested it on her chest, having dropped down into the chair beside the bed. Relief had made his legs weak and suddenly he no longer had the strength to stand. He stayed like that for a long time, feeling her even breathing and knowing that she had fallen asleep having been given some morphine for the pain.

She was cleared to leave the SGC two days later and John had barely left her side. Neither had her father. Both men had taken turns keeping her entertained and when she became increasingly cranky on the second day, the SGC doctor had simply rolled his eyes and told the General that enough was enough. She didn't need to be in there any longer.

They had talked about her options and she had agreed to go back to Atlantis with John. That time on earth had allowed her to clean her slate so to speak, and she could go back to where it had all began and this time there would be no hidden agenda, no subterfuge. Just honesty, working together and the possibility of starting a new life.

And she she stood in front of the gate that would take her away from earth and back to that place where life had been remade for her, and she stood smiling a little foolishly, the man she had fallen in love with at her side. The General and her father were both there and there had been some looks passed between the men that had Jo wondering.

She did not have long to wait. Smiling a little foolishly, John had dropped down onto the ground in front of her on bended knee and had taken her hand in his, his other hand fumbling around in his pants pocket a little. General O'Neill had cleared his throat and Barlow had been grinning outright, causing John to roll his eyes.

Pushing back a smile, she had looked down at the man on the floor in front of her and widened her silver eyes a little.

"John?"

He looked into those eyes and was lost and then suddenly the words were there.

"I've waited a life time for you, Jo. And I'd like to spend the rest of it as your husband... marry me?"

She smiled then, pulling on his hand so that he came to his feet. He picked up her hand and looked at her fingers, fumbling a little with the ring, as though unsure what to do. She put him out of his misery and slid the ring onto her finger, then wrapping her arms around his neck pulling herself up on tiptoes to kiss him. He pulled her tight against him and nuzzled her neck, growling into her ear.

"Still waiting on that answer, Jo..."

"Kinda enjoying watching you squirm, Colonel..."

And with that he bodily picked her up and raised his eyebrows to the two men who stood nearby watching and as the event horizon settled, Jo was able to flick a small salute to her father and Jack.

"Look after her Sheppard. I mean it..."

"With my life, Barlow...with my life..." and they stepped through the wormhole, heading back to Atlantis, in his arms the woman who had almost single handedly against all odds, rescued her father when the rest of the world had allowed him to quietly slip away.

They say heroes are born. But sometimes... they are simply a product of extreme will and discipline and a willingness to defy the odds. Two heroes stepped through the gate that day and another two stood watching them disappear through the wormhole.

Having all defied odds that would likely never be acknowledged on earth.


End file.
